The Rumour Mill
by rolo197
Summary: The rumour mill at Hogwarts ensures that anything secret doesn't stay that way for long. So when Head Girl Rose Weasley is discovered sobbing in the arms of her supposed rival, Head Boy Scorpius Malfoy, the rumours of secret relationships and family betrayal spread around the school like wildfire. WARNING: Contains rape, sex, some bad language.
1. Pasties, Boils and Whomping Willows

Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy had spent the last six years of their education constantly fighting. It was nothing to do with their parents. It was nothing to do with one being in Gryffindor and one being in Slytherin. The pair purely fought because they wanted to outsmart the other.

In their First Year, Scorpius was dared by his friends to throw a pumpkin pasty at a Gryffindor during the Halloween Feast. It hit Rose, who retaliated by suspending him from the ceiling of the Great Hall in front of all the students and staff with a levitation charm. In Second Year, Rose tested out a new branch of her Uncle George's tricks in her Gryffindor/Slytherin Potions lesson. Rose replaced the Slytherins' necessary porcupine quills with a combination of Potion Reversal Rods and explosives. Madam Patil was unimpressed when all of the Slytherin Second Years had to be treated for boils.

This constant series of pranks was put to an end in their fourth year, when after setting fire to the Whomping Willow the pair were lectured by Headmistress McGonagall and told to act their age. Both pupils admired Professor McGonagall and were ashamed of her disappointment.

By their sixth year, Rose and Scorpius had developed a neutral relationship. Considering that they both took the same NEWT subjects, the pair were often paired up in lessons and so had developed a civil friendship. Rose and Scorpius still found the other annoying, but had learnt to live with their rival.

* * *

"But Rose, you're going to be sharing a dorm with MALFOY for an entire year? Doesn't that bother you?"

"No, Al. It doesn't. I've worked with Scorpius before and he seems like a nice bloke to me. I don't see why you guys all have a problem with him."

"Rosie, he's a Malfoy. That is why you should have a problem with him."

"HUGO WEASLEY! You of all people should know not to judge people by who their parents are! As long as I don't have a problem with him, neither you nor Al should have a problem either."

* * *

"Congrats on getting Head Boy, mate!"

"Thanks, Lorcan. I'm a bit surprised that Albus Potter didn't get it to be honest."

"Yeah, but that would be favouritism if they had both Potter and Weasley as Heads, wouldn't it Scorp?"

"Oh yeah…. BLOODY HELL! I HAVE TO DORM WITH WEASLEY!"

"Ooooh harsh luck, mate. I'll make sure you have a nice funeral."

"Thanks for the obvious support, guys. I'm gonna need all the support I can get…"


	2. Freinds, I Guess

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Yeah, but that would be favouritism if they had both Potter and Weasley as Heads, wouldn't it Scorp?"

"Oh yeah…. BLOODY HELL! I HAVE TO DORM WITH WEASLEY!"

"Ooooh harsh luck, mate. I'll make sure you have a nice funeral."

"Thanks for the obvious support, guys. I'm gonna need all the support I can get…"

* * *

Every year when Rose walked into the Great Hall for the Feast, she felt as if she had returned home. Walking in to see the four house tables, the thousands of candles drifting about in the air and sensing the excitement of all the students, it all just made Rose feel alive. It was a feeling that she never wanted to forget.

As Rose walked along the Gryffindor table, looking for her best friends Beth Wood and Jack Thomas, she suddenly realised that this would be the last time that she walked into this hall for the start of a school year. A tear slipped from her eyes as she sat down next to Beth.

"Getting emotional about leaving already, Rosie?" Beth asked with a grin.

"How could you guess?" Rose laughed in reply as she wiped the tear from her cheek.

"Because I've known you since you were eleven and you are about the most emotional person I know" Beth replied.

"Will you girls stop getting so teary like old ladies reminiscing about their school days already? Its only September! You have another year of education to go through yet", Jack commented from across the table. "Plus the Sorting Hat has just arrived, which means the first years will turn up in a minute. You wouldn't want to miss the last Sorting Ceremony, would you?"

Just as Jack said this, the doors opened and a stream of tiny, little first years nervously followed Professor Neville Longbottom through the Great Hall. All heads turned as they reached the Sorting Hat.

"I'm really going to miss this, you know" said Jack. "Watching all the tiny first years tremble under the Sorting Hat and then bound off to their new house."

"Look who's getting emotional now, buddy!" laughed Beth. At this Rose and Jack joined Beth in laughing, before settling down to watch the rest of the sorting.

* * *

Scorpius clapped along with the rest of the school as the last first year, a new Hufflepuff, ran over to join her house. He then turned to watch as Lorcan's twin brother Lysander predictably jumped as the food appeared in front of him. Despite having been at the school for six years, Lysander still jumped when things suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Lorcan teased "Ly, I think you cleared the bench there when you jumped. You practically…"

"Hit the ceiling" Lysander finished. "You've been saying the same thing for years, Lorcan" he said, laughing.

"Scorp, you're a bit quiet tonight. What's up, mate?" Lysander asked.

"Just thinking" Scorpius replied. "Its just weird knowing that we won't be coming back next year"

Lorcan gasped. "Ly, I think this is a world first, I think Scorp is showing a bit of emotion! Quick, write it down somewhere! I can see this making the front page in the Prophet! 'Malfoy shows emotion at thought of leaving school!' We'd be rich!" he said before all three of them burst out laughing.

* * *

Before they knew it, the feast was over and everyone was beginning to leave for their common rooms. Scorpius stood to leave with Lorcan and Lysander and head towards the dungeons, but was stopped by a tug to his sleeve. He turned around to look down at Rose, who was slightly shorter than him.

"Um, hi Scorpius. We have to go and meet McGonagall to find out where our common room is" she mumbled.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot!" Scorpius said. "Wait here a second" he told Rose, before turning to Lorcan and Lysander. "Sorry guys, I have to go to McGonagall to find out where I'm sleeping. Catch up later, yeah?" he said, before turning back to Rose.

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes towards the Headmistress's office. Suddenly Rose blurted out "I don't want to fight this year." Scorpius' surprise must have shown on his face, for Rose then continued, as if to justify her outburst, "I mean, we have to live together for a year and we share the same classes. I thought maybe we could put the past behind us and, well, try being friends I guess?"

Scorpius walked in shocked silence for a minute. After six years of bickering and competition, Rose Weasley was suggesting that they be friends.

"You don't have to agree you know. It was a silly idea really I shouldn't have even suggested it…" Rose mumbled, embarrassed.

"No, Weasley, it's a good idea. It just shocked me a bit that's all. I'm so used to fighting with you it just took me a second to adjust to the idea of us being friends, that's all" Scorpius hurriedly said.

"So you would like to be friends then?"

"Yeah, why not? As you said, we have to live together for a year. It'd be a bit lonely if we didn't really talk"

"Exactly. Call me Rose, by the way"

"Huh?" Scorpius turned to Rose, confused.

"You always call me Weasley. Not trying to be snarky or anything, but there are quite a few Weasleys in Hogwarts. If we're going to get along, you may as well call me Rose" she said.

"That's a fair point actually. So, shall we go and find out where we're staying, Rose?" Scorpius said. At this, the pair continued down the corridor, neither of them noticed two figures at the other end staring in their direction.

"Did you just see that?" said the fourth year Slytherin to his friend. "Weasley and Malfoy are getting friendly. You don't think it's anything more than that, do you?"

"Well, I don't know. But why don't we go stir up some trouble about it anyway, eh? I've never really liked Malfoy anyway" the other boy laughed, before both boys slunk off through the shadows in the direction of the dungeons.


	3. Detege Furta

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Did you just see that?" said the fourth year Slytherin to his friend. "Weasley and Malfoy are getting friendly. You don't think it's anything more than that, do you?"

"Well, I don't know. But why don't we go stir up some trouble about it anyway, eh? I've never really liked Malfoy anyway" the other boy laughed, before both boys slunk off through the shadows in the direction of the dungeons.

* * *

Professor McGonagall had led the Rose and Scorpius past the kitchens towards an alcove in the wall.

"This is the entrance to your common room and living quarters" stated McGonagall. "There is not password for your common room, but instead there is a simple spell to open the door. The spell can only be used by either you two or a member of staff, so your friends won't be able to get in here unless you let them in. The spell is _Detege furta_. Your belongings have already been placed in your bedrooms. Do you have any questions?" she asked with a smile.

"Just the one" said Scorpius. "Now that we have this space, can we still access our house common rooms? It's just that I would like to see my Slytherin friends once in a while and I'm sure Rose would like to see her friends in Gryffindor occasionally as well."

"Of course you can still access your houses. They are, after all, your Hogwarts family" replied McGonagall. "As Head Students, you are allowed access to all four house common rooms. The passwords are pinned up on the notice board inside your own common room." Scorpius nodded gratefully.

"Now," said McGonagall, "I expect you are both eager to explore your new home, so I shall not contain you any longer. Remember that lessons start tomorrow and I expect you will get a lot of work. Goodnight" she said, before leaving Rose and Scorpius outside their common room.

"Can I open it up?" asked Rose in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Go for it. I just want to get inside and see what it's like!" replied Scorpius.

"_Detege furta_!" cried Rose. As she said this, the alcove in the wall seemed to melt away, revealing their new home.

"Woah!" exclaimed Scorpius as he walked into the room. He turned to Rose, to find that she was gazing around the room in awe as well.

Their common room was a large circular room. It had a high ceiling that was enchanted so that it was similar to the ceiling of the Great Hall, but instead of showing the weather, it showed Rose and Scorpius a view of a clear night sky, filled with shining stars and the moon. Over on the other side of the room was a roaring fire place. In front of this fire stood a large sofa and a coffee table. To the side of the fire was a staircase that led up to their bedrooms. The rest of the wall was covering in shelves that almost reached up to the ceiling. On these shelves where all the things that Rose and Scorpius could possibly need for their studies; Potions ingredients, all of their textbooks, quills, parchment and ink, and a few other school supplies. The one shelve left that wasn't used up for school supplies was left bare, for personal belongings. There was also a large desk in the middle of the room which magically adjusted its length according to how much space the users needed.

The pair both gravitated towards their rooms, but as they neared the staircase, a small by the fire caught Scorpius' eye.

"Rose," called Scorpius to stop Rose from going any further, I think we have a working Floo!"

"You're kidding, right? They wouldn't give us a floo network, would they?" asked Rose, as she appeared at Scorpius' side.

"No, there's a pot of floo powder, just there by the fire" Scorpius pointed out.

"That's so cool! If you don't mind, I might try it out later and fire-call my parents" said Rose excitedly. "But I think I might check out my room first. I'll see you later, Scorpius" Rose called out as she retreated up the staircase towards her room.

Scorpius followed Rose up the stair case and turned off when he reached a door with 'Scorpius Malfoy' written above it. Inside, Scorpius was amazed. His room contained a small desk, double bed and a wardrobe for his clothes. It also had a floor-to-ceiling window that showed him a fantastic view of the lake. Scorpius immediately set to work unpacking all of his belongings. He was mildly surprised to find a set of dress robes inside his trunk. They had a note attached, written in his mother's writing. It said "_You might need these later in the year. Enjoy being Head Boy, Darling_". At this Scorpius smiled knowingly. His mother would only write him a note like this if she knew about something. He would have to ask her about it later.

Rose had also found that her room had a double bed, desk and lakeside window. As she unpacked, she also found a set of dress robes tucked away at the bottom of her trunk. Her mum had attached a note saying "_I won't tell you what they're for, but you'll need them later in the year!". _Rose immediately knew that her mum was up to something, but she knew that when her mum said she wouldn't say anything, there was no way she could get it out of her, so Rose pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

* * *

After unpacking her belongings, Rose returned to the sofa by the fire in the common room. A few minutes later Scorpius also came down the staircase and joined her on the sofa.

"What did you think of your room?" he asked as he sat down.

"It's lovely. There's so much space, and it's all for me! It'll be a bit strange though after sharing a room with four other girls for years to suddenly have my own space though" Rose replied.

"Yeah, I feel the same. I don't know about you, but I'm knackered. I think I'm going to call it a night. You haven't seen our timetables, have you?" Scorpius asked.

"They're pinned to the inside of our wardrobes. I think I'll go to bed too actually. We've got to at least show our faces tomorrow morning" Rose joked. "Goodnight Scorpius."

"Night, Rose" Scorpius said before following Rose up the stairs. Scorpius quickly glanced inside his wardrobe to find that he had Transfiguration, Charms, potions and Ancient Runes the next day, all of which he shared classes with Rose. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow" he moaned as he drifted into sleep in his new bed.


	4. Showers and Stares

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Night, Rose" Scorpius said before following Rose up the stairs. Scorpius quickly glanced inside his wardrobe to find that he had Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and Ancient Runes the next day, all of which he shared classes with Rose. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow" he moaned as he drifted into sleep in his new bed.

* * *

Rose woke up in a strange place. This wasn't her normal, crowded dormitory. This wasn't her bed with the sunken dip in the middle and the worn bed posts. Rose then remembered exactly where she was, and was ecstatic. She had her own room! And the only other person around was Scorpius.

Rose glanced at the clock, and upon seeing that it was 7.30am decided to go and take a shower. Rose's first impression of her ensuite bathroom was that it was very large for only two people. It was easily the size of her bedroom and contained a large bath, a shower in the corner and two sinks with mirrors and cabinets for all of their toiletries. There was another door at the other side of the bathroom. Rose assumed that this door led to a cupboard, so she scooped up a clean, dry towel from a rack and turned on the shower.

Scorpius woke up with a jolt at 7.40am in his new room. He was very happy that he was going to wake up every morning for the rest of the year to see the beautiful view of the Black Lake in the morning. After digging out some shower gel, Scorpius headed for his ensuite bathroom. He opened the door and caught a glimpse of the large bathroom before hearing a shriek from the shower in the corner.

"HOW THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU GET INTO MY BATHROOM?! GET THE FUCK OUT SCORPIUS!" Rose screamed from inside the shower, hastily grabbing her towel and wrapping it around her body.

"Rose? Shit, I'm really sorry. I had no idea we had to share the bathroom." As he said this, Rose's face turned to one of thunder.

"Are you sure you didn't already know that the bathroom was shared and fancied a sneak peek at me in the shower?" she asked accusingly.

"No! That'd be so rude! I wouldn't really want you walking in on me! I can come back in a bit if you want…" Scorpius said, wounded.

"No it's fine. I was about to get out anyway. You just surprised me, that's all." Rose said. "I'll see you later, Scorpius" she mumbled before retreating to her room with a blush creeping up on her face.

Scorpius stood dumbstruck in the empty bathroom for several minutes after Rose had left the room. He had just walked in on her in the shower. What a nightmare, he thought before finally gathering up his stuff and heading towards the shower.

* * *

After Scorpius had gotten dressed, he walked down into the common room with his school bag over filled with the all the books for that day.

"You don't need to take your Potions and Ancient Runes stuff with you this morning" came a voice from by the fire. Scorpius looked up to find Rose sat on the sofa with her marginally lighter school bag sat at her feet. "You can just pop back here after lunch to grab the books you need and dump the Charms and Transfiguration stuff on the shelves" she explained.

"Oh, yeah, right. I forgot I'd be able to do that now I'm nearer to everything" Scorpius mumbled, feeling slightly stupid for not realising this before. He hastily removed his Potions and Ancient Runes textbooks from his bag and piled them onto the desk by his side. "Were you waiting for me or something?" he asked, "because otherwise I'm a bit confused as to why you aren't down at breakfast already" he finished.

"Yeah, I was. I thought we could perhaps walk down together. It would show some house unity and could possibly set the other students a good example."

Scorpius held out his arm for Rose before saying with a laugh "Come my dear lady! Let me accompany such a fine woman down for her breakfast!" At this Rose laughed at his joke before walking towards the entrance.

As Rose and Scorpius arrived at the Great Hall, they knew something was up. All of the pupils who were already at breakfast stopped eating and looked up from their breakfast and post to stare at the Head Boy and Girl. As Rose and Scorpius separated to go to their separate tables, eyes followed them until they sat down. Rose thought that her Beth and Jack acted weirdly when she sat down next to them.

"Rose" said Jack, "Is there something you aren't telling us about?"

Rose was confused by this. "Like what? I've never kept anything from you guys before."

"We've been hearing things, Rose, about you and Malfoy" said Beth in a hushed voice. "A rumour went round that you're secretly dating Malfoy."

At this Rose sat up deadly straight, alarmed, and her head swivelled to stare at Scorpius. At the same time Scorpius also stared in confusion at Rose.

"You heard what?" Rose hissed under her breath to her friends. "And how does the whole school know?"

"Some Slytherins announced to their entire house that they had caught you two all lovey dovey in the corridor after the feast yesterday. That spread and, you know the school gossip chain, it's changed from you and him sharing a smile to you and him having sex in a broom closet" Beth whispered back.

"I-I-I can't believe it!" cried Rose, close to tears. "Some little buggar must have seen Scorpius and I when we were on the way to find McGonagall. We'd just talked and agreed that we should try being friends! I swear there's nothing to that rumour, guys" she said, practically pleading her friends to believe her.

"I believe you, Rosie, but there's a problem. The rumour hit Gryffindor Tower after it had been changed a bit. All of your fam and Daniel heard that you'd been caught by these Slytherins snogging in a cupboard. They're fuming" whispered Jack, immediately regretting what he'd said.

All of the colour drained from Rose's face. "Daniel heard" she muttered weakly before sinking her head into her hands. "He won't believe a word I say."

Daniel McLaggen was Rose's long-term boyfriend. They'd been going out for over a year now, but whenever Daniel heard anything about Rose, he would never believe her side. This had resulted in numerous fights and they had almost broken up several times. Rose loved Daniel with all her heart and was devastated that he'd heard another silly rumour.

"Where is he?" she asked quietly. "I need to speak to him before it gets worse."

"He's locked himself in his dorm, Rose. He doesn't want to see anyone. He's going to yell at you again, I'd just leave it for a bit. Go see him at lunch or something."

"Good idea, Beth. How would I get on without you, huh?" laughed Rose sadly. She'd have to wait until after Charms to speak to Daniel, but before that, she had to talk to Scorpius.


	5. Sugar Quills and Jealous Bitches

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Where is he?" she asked quietly. "I need to speak to him before it gets worse."

"He's locked himself in his dorm, Rose. He doesn't want to see anyone. He's going to yell at you again, I'd just leave it for a bit. Go see him at lunch or something."

"Good idea, Beth. How would I get on without you, huh?" laughed Rose sadly. She'd have to wait until after Charms to speak to Daniel, but before that, she had to talk to Scorpius.

* * *

Scorpius' morning was a bit of a disaster. When he'd arrived at the Great Hall with Rose that morning, he'd thought the stares odd. It was when he sat down the Scorpius knew he had a problem.

"Scorp, did you sleep with Wealsey over the summer?" Lysander hissed spitefully across the table.

"What the hell, mate? Why would I sleep with Rose?" he replied.

"Word went round that you shagged 'Rose' over the summer and now you've got your own common room you'll be shagging her more. You could've told us mate!" Lorcan said before grabbing a piece of toast off the rack in front of him.

Scorpius stared straight at Rose after hearing this, to find she was staring back just as confused and hurt as he felt. Who would spread such a rumour?

"Mate, what happened last night? I heard that two fourth years saw you guys smiling all lovey dovey at each other in the corridor after the feast. What's got into you, dude? You've never been on speaking terms with her and yet now you guys are walking to breakfast together and being all friendly. You sure you didn't sleep with her?" Lysander prodded.

"I think I'd know if I'd slept with Rose" replied Scorpius icily. "Look, last night we just agreed on the way to finding McGonagall that we should get along with each other this year as we are living together. That was it. I haven't slept with her, snogged her, done ANYTHING with Rose, got it? I swear she has a boyfriend anyway? That McLaggen prick?"

"Yeah. But I heard that he's barricaded himself in the Tower and won't come out" said Lorcan form across the table. "He doesn't want to see Weasley at all. Word's going this is the final straw to their relationship."

"Poor Rose" thought Scorpius aloud. "I should probably go talk to her. Plus at the rate she's going, she'll be late for first lesson, and McGonagall will positively _Avada_ her if she's late…I'll catch up later guys" said Scorpius, grabbing a slice of toast before heading over to where Rose was sat with her friends.

"Rose, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Scorpius, coming up behind Rose and tapping her on the shoulder. As Rose turned to face him, Scorpius thought Rose looked paler than when they had arrived. "You may as well bring your stuff and we can head over to Transfiguration – don't want to be late for McGonagall."

Rose said a quick goodbye to her friends before standing to join Scorpius. Eyes followed them as they left the hall. As soon as they were away from prying students, Scorpius turned to Rose. "It wasn't me" was the first thing that slipped out of his mouth.

"I know" she said bluntly. "Apparently it was some little pricks in fourth year who were slying on us and thought they'd start the year by spreading shit about the two most senior students in the school" she said.

Scorpius noticed that her voice had no tone, no warmth and she still looked way to pale for a Weasley. "Are you alright?" he asked her, "It's just that you look a bit pale…"

"I'll be fine, Scorpius. I'm just a bit worried. Daniel heard the rumours. I guess you've probably heard that he's refusing to see me or anyone. .."

"Yeah, sorry to hear about that. No offense but he never seems to trust you a lot" commented Scorpius.

"No offense taken, as he never listens to what I say."

"Why don't you just break it off with him then?" Scorpius suggested.

"I dunno. He's really nice when there isn't shit spreading around the school about me cheating on him with you. It's tricky as he'll go off on one now but in a few days he'll be fine" stated Rose, as if she had repeated this phrase hundreds of times over.

Just as Scorpius was about to ask if she'd spoken to her moody boyfriend yet, McGonagall walked towards their classroom and let them inside.

"I've put the class into a seating plan. I'd like you two to sit together for this term" said McGonagall in a voice that had such finality that both students sat obediently next to each other. As other students started to find their places, whispers soon started emerging.

"Is that Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy? Sat together? Maybe they really are secretly going out…"

"Don't you think it's weird that Weasley and Malfoy are sat together straight after that rumour they slept together got out? Maybe the rumour was true and they can't be bothered to hide it!"

Scorpius glanced across at Rose and saw that her face was paler. He realised that she was really stressed out by these rumours. To try and perk her up, Scorpius reached into his bag and pulled out a sugar quill before handing it to Rose. "You need the sugar to get some colour back into your face" he whispered into her ear as the lesson started.

Behind Rose and Scorpius sat Maisy Thomas and Megan Finnigan. "Oh my merlin! Look at Rose and Malfoy! We should probably tell Daniel about this development, shouldn't we" whispered Maisy.

"Yeah" Megan whispered back, "maybe he'll dump her now she's cheating on him and he could ask out one of us!" she squealed.


	6. Death Eater Scum

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Don't you think it's weird that Weasley and Malfoy are sat together straight after that rumour they slept together got out? Maybe the rumour was true and they can't be bothered to hide it!"

Scorpius glanced across at Rose and saw that her face was paler. He realised that she was really stressed out by these rumours. To try and perk her up, Scorpius reached into his bag and pulled out a sugar quill before handing it to Rose. "You need the sugar to get some colour back into your face" he whispered into her ear as the lesson started.

Behind Rose and Scorpius sat Maisy Thomas and Megan Finnigan. "Oh my merlin! Look at Rose and Malfoy! We should probably tell Daniel about this development, shouldn't we" whispered Maisy.

"Yeah" Megan whispered back, "maybe he'll dump her now she's cheating on him and he could ask out one of us!" she squealed.

* * *

After suffering through Transfiguration and Double Charms with constant whispers about her and Scorpius flying about the room, Rose couldn't quite face lunch. Instead, she went up to Gryffindor Tower to try and speak to Daniel.

As Rose neared the 7th Year Boys Dormitory, Rose heard the voices of Megan and Maisy, her old roommates inside.

"Yeah, Daniel, we're really sorry, but Rose and Scorpius seem to actually be together!" said one of them.

"We were sat behind them in Transfiguration and before the lesson Scorpius whispered into her ear.."

"And then gave her a sugar quill and she smiled back into his eyes and oh my merlin I thought they were about to snog and everything! But then McGonagall started the lesson and they both started taking notes as always" said the other.

"I knew those rumours were true" said Daniel quietly. "I should have never kept up this relationship with that bitch for this long. She never did seem the faithful type. I should have known that she was cheating on me with that Death Eater scum.."

At this, Rose burst into the room. "How DARE you speak of someone like that!" She screamed. "I haven't cheated on you. The rumours were started by spiteful fourth year slytherins. That's all they are, Daniel, rumours! I would never cheat on you!"

"Get out, Weasley" said Daniel, heartlessly. "It's over between us. You're a greedy, selfish little bitch and I wish I'd never gone out with you in the first place. Go and crawl back to your Malfoy play boy. Join that scum in his scum hole. For all I care, go and rot in hell you little BITCH!" he roared, before getting off of his bed and grabbing Rose by the collar of her shirt.

"Get out of my face, you cheating piece of filth" he spat in her face before slapping Rose across the face and shoving her roughly through the door, before slamming it in her face.

* * *

Rose blindly ran out of the tower. She was heading towards her common room, just running past the closed doors to the Great Hall, when she ran into a body. She looked up to see who she had crashed into, and then collapsed into tears against Scorpius' chest. Scorpius, slightly shocked at seeing Rose in such a state, did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around her small, fragile body and held her upright. He feared that if he let go, she's collapse onto the floor.

"He dumped me" Rose sobbed into Scorpius' jumper. "He called me a bitch, forced me up against a wall, slapped me and then threw me down on the floor" she said, choking down waves after waves of tears.

Scorpius couldn't believe that McLaggen could be so harsh on Rose. "Where did he hurt you?" he asked softly. Rose lifted her face out of his chest for a few seconds before erupting into a fresh batch of tears. In that time, Scorpius could already make out a hand print across her cheek. Scorpius looked down and saw someone who he once thought of as a strong person at her weakest, and clutched her tighter to him.

"I won't let him hurt you anymore" he whispered. "You've got to report this, he's abused you for the sake of a stray rumour."

"He won't listen" she sobbed. "He never does."

"OH MY MERLIN!" came a shout from nearby. "WEASLEY AND MALFOY _ARE_ TOGETHER!"


	7. Headaches and Hugs

**In the Previous Chapter…**

Scorpius couldn't believe that McLaggen could be so harsh on Rose. "Where did he hurt you?" he asked softly. Rose lifted her face out of his chest for a few seconds before erupting into a fresh batch of tears. In that time, Scorpius could already make out a hand print across her cheek. Scorpius looked down and saw someone who he once thought of as a strong person at her weakest, and clutched her tighter to him.

"I won't let him hurt you anymore" he whispered. "You've got to report this, he's abused you for the sake of a stray rumour."

"He won't listen" she sobbed. "He never does."

"OH MY MERLIN!" came a shout from nearby. "WEASLEY AND MALFOY _ARE_ TOGETHER!"

* * *

Rose whipped her head around. The doors of the Great Hall had just opened, letting students out after lunch, and the whole school was staring at them. Rose realised that she was still clutching Scorpius. Rose looked into the Hall in despair, seeing that her entire family had stood and were glaring at her. All of the girls were trying to hold back the boys, but only Lily was holding Albus back. Rose untangled herself from Scorpius' arms as Al broke loose and sprinted towards her from the Gryffindor table. But instead of running to Rose, Al barrelled straight into Scorpius, pinning him to the ground.

"What the FUCK have you done to Rose to make her upset like this?!" he practically screamed int Scorpius' face.

"I-I-I haven't done anything!" Scorpius spluttered.

"Don't lie, you little SHIT!" Al yelled before picking Scorpius off of the floor and slamming him against the wall. "What have you done to Rosie to make her cry?!" he yelled again, emphasising every word by bashing Scorpius against the wall.

"ALBUS POTTER!" screamed Professor McGonagall as she stormed down the aisle of the Great Hall towards the fight. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"

"He's hurt Rose, miss" said Al weakly, as he crumbled under McGonagall's glare.

"Is this true, Mr Malfoy?" asked McGonagall sternly.

"No!" Scorpius said, amazed anyone could think that he would hurt someone else. "It was nothing to do with me! Rose just came down the stairs in tears and barrelled into me!"

"A likely story!" yelled Al, unconvinced.

"Mr Potter, I have had quite enough of you. I understand that you and Miss Weasley are very close, but this is not an occasion for you to attack the Head Boy. 40 points from Gryffindor for abusing another pupil" she said. Al looked lost for words at losing 40 points for his house.

"Go back to the Tower and get ready for your afternoon lessons, Mr Potter" said McGonagall calmly. "I will deal with this myself. I am sure Rose will find you in a minute, but she's in a bit of a state at the moment" she whispered, before pointing to Rose. She had collapsed against the wall and was sobbing into her hands. Scorpius was by her side, trying to comfort her, but it was having no effect.

"Mr Malfoy, would you kindly escort Miss Weasley back to your common room?" asked McGonagall. "I will be along shortly." With this, she turned around and addressed the rest of the school, who had been watching throughout. "A further 50 points from every house for being nosy" she said before sweeping away towards the kitchens.

* * *

After Scorpius had set Rose down in the Sofa by the fire, he switched on the muggle kettle on one of the shelves. Rose told him that she had adapted it so that it worked on magic, so had brought it with her to make tea. Scorpius was slightly confused by the muggle contraption, but none the less managed to make Rose and himself a cup of tea before joining her on the sofa.

"Rose, you need to tell Professor McGonagall what happened" he said, gently tapping her shoulder. At this, Rose subconsciously leant into Scorpius, seeking warmth and comfort.

"I can't" she stuttered. "I'm scared he'll hurt me again" she said in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Rose, he won't have the opportunity to hurt you again if you tell McGonagall" he tried to persuade her.

"I'm sorry Al yelled at you" she said, changing the subject. Rose didn't want to tell McGonagall – Daniel had hurt her before, but she'd never told anyone, and every time he had threatened to hurt her family if she told. She couldn't take that risk. "He's probably the closest to me out of all my cousins, and I guess he was a bit angry at what he saw. I mean, it is a bit suspicious for the Head Girl to be sobbing in her old rival's arms, isn't it" she laughed.

"A tad" Scorpius agreed, "But don't worry about it. He was angry and I've seen you guys are pretty close" he said.

"Did he hurt you?" Rose suddenly asked, realising that all this time, she had forgotten that Al had bashed Scorpius against a wall several times.

"Just a headache" Scorpius smiled. "It's nothing I can't handle."

At this, Professors McGonagall, Longbottom, and Vane walked in. "I have brought your heads of houses along with me for this meeting" McGonagall stated, "as I believe that this is quite a serious situation. Neville, can you talk to Rose on the sofa while Romilda and I talk to Scorpius?"

Neville took Scorpius' place next to Rose and tried to console her enough to tell him what had happened. Scorpius however, faced the more daunting prospect of talking to McGonagall and Vane.

"Scorpius" asked Vane, "Please tell us exactly what happened from the beginning."

"Ummm… well, I guess I should start with last night. We agreed to be friends considering we are living together for this year, but someone overheard us talking and spread rumours about us. Its spread around the whole school and everyone was asking us about it this morning. Then we were put into seating plans for Transfiguration and Charms and were placed together because we work to the same standard or something and the rumours got worse. I don't know much after that apart from that just towards the end of lunch I was coming back here when Rose hurtled into me crying her eyes out. I think her boyfriend was really annoyed by the rumours and hit her and dumped her, professors" he said, practically whispering the last part. "She's completely torn up about it all, and I guess she's now worried about her reputation as she's just been found sobbing with her old rival and her cousin beat up the guy who was trying to stop her from collapsing to the floor" he said in a bit of a rush.

"Thank you, Scorpius" said McGonagall. "I will go speak to Miss Weasley now. I think you should stay and try to console her. I understand that you two have only recently established your friendship, but you are already quite close and I feel Rose will need someone there for her when we leave" she said.

Professor Longbottom had had no success trying to get Rose to tell him what had happened. Al that had happened was Rose had told him not to tell her Dad or Uncle Harry and fresh waves of tears. When he looked up to see McGonagall, Vane and Scorpius coming towards them, he was slightly relieved, as Rose might just reveal the mystery behind all of this fuss with Scorpius there to support her.

"Rose" said Scorpius, aware that every word he said was being heard by the three teachers, "are you feeling any better?" he asked, before sitting next to her. Rose again leant back into him before looking up into his eyes before saying "A little bit, thanks, but not very much" before sinking back into his chest.

"Rose, you need to tell us what happened" said McGonagall softly. "I know it hurts to talk about it now, but the sooner this is dealt with, the sooner everyone else will forget it happened."

Scorpius gave Rose's hand a reassuring squeeze before she turned to face the teachers.

"The rumours got on top of me and my boyfriend found out" she said calmly but quietly. "He got angry and physically abused me before throwing me out and slamming the door in my face" she whispered, getting quieter and physically more scared as she said more and more. "I ran into Scorpius and he was comforting me when the rest of the school found saw us. Al got mad and thought Scorpius was hurting me so came and hurt him to protect me. Please don't punish him too severely, he was just trying to protect me" she pleaded, worried for Al. His dad really wouldn't be pleased if he found out he'd beaten up Draco Malfoy's son, especially as he always reminded his children not the be overly horrible to slytherins.

"Albus had been punished, and it was not too severe. The points he lost will easily be regained, Miss Weasley, don't worry" she said. She then addressed both Rose and Scorpius and said "I have also punished the rest of the school for nosing in on the incident earlier. I am sure you are aware that more rumours will undoubtedly emerge after this afternoon, but rest assure, if I catch anyone spreading something that is not true, they will be punished" she said severely.

"If that is all, Miss Weasley and Mr Malfoy, myself, Professor Vane and Professor Longbottom will leave you now. You can both be excused from your lessons this afternoon" she said before turning around and leaving with the other two teachers.

* * *

Scorpius turned to Rose as the teachers left. She may had put on a brave face while the teachers were there, but as soon as the door clicked shut, Scorpius watched as Rose fell back into him in tears again.

"Shh" he said soothingly, wrapping his arms around Rose's tiny form and pulling her closer.

"Scorpius, don't let him get to me" Rose choked through the tears. "He'll kill me when he finds out I told McGonagall" she cried.

"Rose, I know we've only been friends a few days, but I'm not about to let that bastard hurt you" said Scorpius

"Why would you protect me?" Rose whispered. "We've never really spoken to each other until yesterday and now over the course of less than 24 hours you're sat here comforting me as I cry. It's no wonder people are suspicious…" she drifted off.

"You're at your weakest, Rose. The one you thought you should be able to trust throughout everything just hit you and slammed you against a wall and no offense, but you're not really in the right state to be left alone. I just thought you'd need someone else to talk to, someone who might understand more" he mumbled in her ear.

"You've been really good to me Scorpius" Rose muttered, before sitting up and swivelling round in her seat so that she was facing Scorpius. "Well, considering you're stuck up to your elbows in my mess, we may as well get to know each other better...fancy a game of 20 Questions?"


	8. Seduction, Screaming and Nightmares

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Why would you protect me?" Rose whispered. "We've never really spoken to each other until yesterday and now over the course of less than 24 hours you're sat here comforting me as I cry. It's no wonder people are suspicious…" she drifted off.

"You're at your weakest, Rose. The one you thought you should be able to trust throughout everything just hit you and slammed you against a wall and no offense, but you're not really in the right state to be left alone. I just thought you'd need someone else to talk to, someone who might understand more" he mumbled in her ear.

"You've been really good to me Scorpius" Rose muttered, before sitting up and swivelling round in her seat so that she was facing Scorpius. "Well, considering you're stuck up to your elbows in my mess, we may as well get to know each other better...fancy a game of 20 Questions?"

* * *

Scorpius turned to Rose with an amused smirk on his face. "20 Questions? How old are you exactly? 12?" he smirked.

"Mentally, maybe" Rose giggled. "Alright….favourite colour?"

"Blue… like, the colour of the sky on a sunny day blue" said Scorpius, slightly embarrassed. "Yours?"

"Well I like that type of blue too, but my family lives on the south coast, we have so much rain its mostly clouds in the sky" she joked, "but my favourite colour's green."

"Oooooh I sense house betrayal here….a Weasley loving the Slytherin colours… well here's a twist in the story!" Scorpius said dramatically.

"Stop being a douche, Scorp" Rose smiled, before asking her next question, "favourite subject?"

"Potions. Yours?"

"Charms. I know it can be considered a soft subject but Charms is cool" said Rose.

"My turn" said Scorpius eagerly. "Here's one for you….favourite relative"

"Uncle George definitely, but don't tell anyone" she laughed. "Only reason he's my favourite is that last Christmas he gave my dad a toilet seat as a present and then charmed the turkey to tap dance on my dad's dinner plate" she chuckled at the memory. "Who's your favourite relative?"

"I don't really have any relatives, but my favourite would probably be my Grandma – she's always been really nice to me and she used to tell me loads of stories as a kid" Scorpius shrugged. "Another one: Have you ever got in trouble for something that didn't involve me in any way?"

"Remember when everyone woke up and found every surface wrapped in bubble wrap?" Rose smirked.

"That was YOU?" Scorpius gasped.

"The one and only" Rose laughed, "But I had help from Uncle George, James and Fred. What about you?"

"You might not have been there – I think you were in the Hospital Wing after one of our duels, but I may have bribed the house elves to spike all of the drinks at dinner one night with a batch of polyjuice potion" he said.

"I was in the hospital wing, but I got told that McGonagall was less than pleased to look up from her dinner and see a sea of McGonagalls blinking back at her" Rose laughed.

"That was so funny." Scorpius reminisced.

15 questions later, Rose was showing signs of exhaustion. Scorpius, knowing Rose had had a long day and needed a pillow, wrapped his arms around Rose and brought her closer.

"You look like you need a pillow" he muttered when Rose looked at him confused, "And we still have one more question" he asked with a cunning glint in his eyes.

"Oh no…" Rose muttered, knowing what was coming next. It was traditionally the last question ever asked when playing 20Q in Hogwarts. It was the same with Truth or Dare. "Not that question" she begged.

"Oh yes" teased Scorpius, "it's time for the question" he finished dramatically, before whispering in her ear "Are you ticklish?"

Before Rose had time to answer, Scorpius had followed tradition and had now bundled Rose playfully onto the floor and was tickling her mercilessly.

"Scorpius!" Rose squealed, "STOP! Please, I beg you" she cried. Scorpius grinned in such a way that said that he was not about to stop tickling her any time soon, so Rose did the first thing she could think of. Rose sat up and pushed Scorpius backwards before sitting on top of his, straddling his waist.

"Rose" Scorpius panted, slightly surprised, "would you kindly like to get off of me?" he asked, still panting from their energetic tickle fight. Rose noticed that by straddling Scorpius, she was at a very big advantage over her male pillow, and she very much planned to use this advantage.

When Rose was being Sorted, the Hat had stalled when it came to her. The hat had been very close to putting Rose in with the Slytherins, but had eventually decided that Rose was far to brave and noble to be a Snake, so sent her over to the Lions. Rose, however, still contained many Slytherin traits, and her cunningness, ruthlessness and ability to make others squirm became very useful when she needed those abilities, just like she did right now.

"I don't know" Rose whispered seductively, making Scorpius stare at her in confusion. "I could just stay here" she said, lying down gently on top of Scorpius, still straddling him, "And somehow" she said, grinding her hips down against Scorpius', "I don't think you want me to get up yet" she whispered tantalisingly slowly, practically nose-to-nose with Scorpius as she once again ground her hips against his.

Scorpius moaned involuntarily, and this was the reaction Rose had been waiting for. She lowered herself down towards his face, and was almost about to lay her lips on Scorpius' when she moved her hands to his waist and begun to ferociously tickle him. Scorpius was so surprised that he jumped up with a shout and Rose fell off of him. After Scorpius had recovered, he glared down at Rose, who was curled up in a ball on the floor by his feet, crying from laughter. He crouched down and poked Rose in the back to catch her attention. Rose looked up and with a satisfied grin giggled "I take it you're ticklish then, Mr Malfoy" before laughing again. At this Scorpius joined laughing. He abruptly stopped laughing when he realised that Rose was no longer laughing with him, but crying hysterically in a ball on the floor. He crouched down and picked her light body off of the floor and carried her back to the sofa before sitting down himself and lifting Rose into his lap, where she buried herself into his chest.

"Rose, what's wrong" he whispered gently.

"I'm sorry" Rose sniffed, "We were having such a laugh, and I went and ruined it" she sniffed again.

"You didn't ruin it Rose" he said gently, "that's the most fun I've had in ages, but I still want to know what's wrong" he asked, unsure as to whether or not Rose would answer him.

"I was just thinking about how much fun we were having, and how I've never had that much fun with a guy before, and when thinking of guys my mind leapt to Daniel and you know" she cried.

"You were reminded of how badly he treated you" he finished for her. Rose simply nodded, yawning.

"Rose, you must be knackered" said Scorpius concerned. "You've had a really long day and it hasn't been very nice. You should really go to bed" he said. But Scorpius looked down and found that Rose was already half asleep in his arms, so he carefully sat up, picked Rose up and carried her up the stairs to her bed. He carried Rose right to her bed, and laid her gently down. Rose was still in uniform, so before he pulled the covers over her tiny frame, he removed her shoes and tie. He then retreated to his bedroom. Too tired to do much else, Scorpius removed his own shoes and tie, as well as his socks, shirt and trousers before slipping into some comfy trackie bottoms. He then collapsed onto his own bed, falling asleep instantly.

* * *

Scorpius was rudely woken after a few hours at 2.34am with a loud, high pitched scream. It only took him a second to realise that it must be Rose. At this, he darted out of bed, through the bathroom and into Rose's bedroom. Rose was sat upright in bed crying her eyes out. Scorpius climbed onto the bed beside her and let her cry against him.

"What happened?" he asked softly, "Do I need to go find a teacher?"

"No, I just had a nightmare" Rose stuttered, "but it scared the fucking life out of me."

"What happened in it?" Scorpius asked, curiously.

"It was more a memory than a nightmare" Rose whispered, "but I can tell you that it involved Daniel."

"A memory? What did that bastard do to you" Scorpius seethed.

"I don't want to say" muttered Rose.

"Rose, please" urged Scorpius.

"Promise you won't tell anyone, Scorp, please don't tell a soul. He'll kill me if he found out I'd told you" she whispered. "His parents went away for a week in the summer, so he invited me to stay round" she shuddered.

"Rose, what did he do to you" Scorpius asked, afraid of what he was about to hear.

"He had strict apparation wards on his house, so no one but his family could apparate in and out, and his floo had been shut down whilst his parents were away" Rose said, shaking. "I couldn't get away, Scorp. I was terrified!" sobbed Rose.

"How did he hurt you?" he asked quietly.

"At first he was all loving and kind, but then he started taking things too far, and I yelled at him to back off, so he hit me and hurt me all over" Rose whispered.

"He hit you!" Scorpius raged, vowing that he'd punch the guy the second he showed his face.

"That's not all, Scorp" Rose muttered. "He said that unless I did what he wanted by the end of that day, he'd bring Lily here and do the same thing to her" she said. "I couldn't let him do that to Lils" Rose sobbed, "so I did as he wanted" Rose cried harder.

"Shh Rose, calm down and tell me what he did to you" Scorpius begged.

"He… he…."

"He what?"

Rose gulped, before bursting into fresh waves of tears as she whispered miserably "He r-r-raped me."


	9. You like that, huh?

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"He hit you!" Scorpius raged, vowing that he'd punch the guy the second he showed his face.

"That's not all, Scorp" Rose muttered. "He said that unless I did what he wanted by the end of that day, he'd bring Lily here and do the same thing to her" she said. "I couldn't let him do that to Lils" Rose sobbed, "so I did as he wanted" Rose cried harder.

"Shh Rose, calm down and tell me what he did to you" Scorpius begged.

"He… he…."

"He what?"

Rose gulped, before bursting into fresh waves of tears as she whispered miserably "He r-r-raped me."

* * *

Although he was fuming at hearing this, Scorpius contained his anger for Rose's sake. Inside his mind he was screaming _WHAT A FUCKING BASTARD I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!_, outside he gently consoled Rose until her tears ran dry.

"Scorp, you don't need to worry about me" Rose sniffed. "Just because I'm having a bad night doesn't mean you need to lose all of your sleep too" she said, turning to face him.

"Rose, I really don't care about losing sleep – you need someone to be there for you right now, and that happens to be me" he said gently.

"Scorp, I'm not going to be able to sleep for the rest of the night" said Rose. "I've had this nightmare before, and I can never sleep afterwards. I've only ever been able to get back to sleep when I'm at home, and that's only because Hugo lets me sleep in his bed with him for the rest of the night" she said sadly.

"Right then" said Scorpius determinedly, "you're coming with me" he said softly as he stood off of the bed and offered Rose his hand. Rose only noticed at this point that Scorpius was completely topless and that the waistband of his trackie bottoms had sunk rather low, and _wow _she thought, _he has a pretty fit body_.

"Rose?" Scorpius asked, waving his hand in front of Rose's face, "You blanked out there for a second" he said, before stretching out his hand again before saying "follow me."

Curious, Rose gently took Scorpius' hand and followed him through the bathroom and into his bedroom. She stopped at the door way and watched Scorpius make his way towards his bed. Rose smiled guiltily when she noticed how messed up his bed sheets were, from where he had obviously thrown them off of him to get through to her. She was surprised when she saw Scorpius climb under his covers.

"Scorp, what am I doing in here?" she asked.

He patted the space next to him in the bed and said "You said you needed company to get back to sleep" he said softly, unsure about how Rose would react, "and I'm offering to be your pillow for the night" he smiled before again patting the space next to him.

Rose walked slowly over to him, wondering if he was taking the piss, but as she neared, he pulled back the bed covers for her to slide in next to him.

"I won't bite" he smirked. At this Rose finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to have Scorpius to comfort her for one night, and climbed in next to him. Scorpius automatically wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Rose was a bit startled by how easily she and Scorpius interacted, but felt quite comfortable, so snuggled closer into Scorpius.

"You didn't have to do this" she muttered sleepily.

"But I am, so shall we try and get some sleep?" he yawned, "We probably should go to lessons tomorrow – we only have Potions and Charms in the afternoon, so we can sleep in if you'd like" he said.

"Mmmmmm" Rose murmured, "That'd be nice" she said as she started drifting asleep with her head resting on Scorpius' chest. Scorpius leant back against his pillow and used the hand that wasn't cradling Rose to stroke her hair. She softly moaned in pleasure. Scorpius smiled at how easily she relaxed in his care.

"You like that, huh?" he laughed quietly.

"Mmmhmmm" Rose replied.

"You don't mind me sitting here holding you then" whispered Scorpius.

"Nah, it feels nice" she whispered back, "I feel safe" she added as an afterthought, before moving her head to look at Scorpius. "Thank you for looking after me" she said.

"You can come here if you do get any nightmares again" Scorpius said, seriously. "If it helps, just crawl in and I'll be here" he whispered.

"That's really generous of you, Scorp" said Rose, who had adjusted herself so that she could see Scorpius, but it also meant that she was laying half on top of him.

"Rose, I think we should go to bed" Scorpius yawned. Rose then seemed to remember that it was nearly half three in the morning and snuggled back into Scorpius' embrace.

"Night Scorp" Rose murmured, draping her arm across Scorpius' stomach.

Scorpius looked down at Rose, and realised that he could get used to this. Rose seemed to be comfortable too, snuggled up in his bed. He leant down and gently kissed Rose on the forehead before whispering "Goodnight, Rose" before laying his head back on his pillows.

Rose was slightly surprised by Scorpius' kiss, but found that she actually quite liked it. She hugged Scorpius' middle with the arm she had draped over him, and in return he pulled her closer. Both students drifted asleep with contempt smiles on their faces, and wondered what it would be like to go to sleep like this every night.

* * *

Rose stirred the next morning and woke in a different room to what she was used to. This wasn't her dorm or her room, where was she? The events of the previous night fell into place as she felt Scorpius stir next to her. They were still tangled up in each other's embrace.

"Morning" Scorpius croaked, before clearing his throat and repeating his greeting in his normal, deep yet gentle voice.

"Morning" Rose whispered in return. "Umm, do you mind if we don't mention this to anyone?" she asked, slightly worried. "Don't get the wrong impression, I don't think I've actually slept that well in weeks" she hurriedly said, "but I don't think it will help either of our situations if more rumours were to get around" she explained.

"Yeah, don't worry, I won't" he said, "I kinda wanted to keep it to ourselves too, as after Al kinda attacked me yesterday I don't want your family to get the wrong idea and try to kill me or anything" he joked.

"Yeah, my family can be a bit tempermental sometimes" Rose giggled, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry, do you want to go down to breakfast? We seem to have woken up relatively early for people who were awake in the middle of the night" she said, guiltily.

"Yeah, why not" Scorpius agreed. "I know you'll be at a different table to me and everything, but if anyone gives you any trouble, come find me and we'll sort them out" he said. Rose knew perfectly well that Scorpius had meant if Daniel came to cause trouble then he would help out. With this, Scorpius offered Rose his hand and led her over to the entrance hole. Although they didn't hold hands, Rose stuck very close to Scorpius. Scorpius noticed this, and realised that Rose was trembling.

"Hey," he said, "It'll be fine" he said and grabbed her hand from by his side to give it a reassuring squeeze.

They walked the rest of the way in silence and said goodbye at the doors.

"We haven't got any lessons this morning" Rose said, "Do you want to spend the morning playing Chess or something in our common room? We could get to know each other better" she suggested.

"Sounds nice" Scorpius smiled. "I'll see you back in our common room after breakfast then" he smiled before turning towards the Slytherin table.


	10. House Unity to the extreme?

**A/N: I'd just like to thank Missdagane, IsThatBlueFood, suninthenightsky, Max-Bella-Ride, Diddleymaz and DoodleDooo for reviewing! It's wonderful to hear from people! Please keep following and reviewing so I can make my future stories better! Taa, R. xx**

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Hey," he said, "It'll be fine" he said and grabbed her hand from by his side to give it a reassuring squeeze.

They walked the rest of the way in silence and said goodbye at the doors.

"We haven't got any lessons this morning" Rose said, "Do you want to spend the morning playing Chess or something in our common room? We could get to know each other better" she suggested.

"Sounds nice" Scorpius smiled. "I'll see you back in our common room after breakfast then" he smiled before turning towards the Slytherin table.

* * *

Rose stumbled slightly as she took her first few wobbly steps towards the Gryffindor table. She easily found her friends and hurried towards them. As she sat down, Rose immediately felt sick. Daniel McLaggen was sat only a few places down from her. She glanced across the Hall and saw Scorpius looking at her from his seat between his friends. He gave her an encouraging nod before turning to his friends.

"Morning" Rose greeted her friends.

Both Beth and Jack were sat opposite her, but neither one spoke to her. They were wrapped up in their own conversation, so Rose said a little louder "Morning guys". She got no reply. "Beth? Jack? Hellooooooooooooo?" she called from across the table. Jack finally turned to face her, but had a look of thunder on his face.

"We don't want to talk to you, Rose, so why don't you leave us alone?" he said bitterly.

"Guys, what's going on?" asked Rose, who was mightily confused.

"You left Daniel in such a state Rose" said Beth from across the table, but not making eye contact with Rose. "We all know that you went up to his dorm and screamed at him for no reason. He was so tor up that you'd cheated on him with Malfoy that he was sat in the common room sobbing his eyes out", she whispered.

Rose couldn't belive it. "You believe him over me?" she asked, shocked. At this point, McLaggen noticed that Rose was present at the table.

"Why are you here, Weasley?" he sneered. "You're not wanted here, you turned against your own house when you treated me like a piece of shit and decided to go behind my back with that Malfoy scum" he spat.

At this, Rose had had enough. "I didn't cheat on you" she sobbed loudly. By this point, most of the Hall was watching the action unfold at the Gryffindor table.

"No hun, of course you didn't" he said sweetly. "YOU WENT BEHIND MY FUCKING BACK AND SLEPT WITH HIM, DIDN'T YOU?" he screamed in her face.

Rose was crying uncontrollably by now. "I never slept with Scorpius, I've never done ANYTHING with Scorpius" she sobbed.

"Go explain that to you family, Weasley, as they're all quite pissed that you'd cheat on me" McLaggen sais smugly.

"WHAT LIES HAVE YOU FED MY FAMILY, DANIEL?" Rose stood up and yelled. At this, every head turned to the Head Girl. Rose then turned to her friends and pointed to her face., You could clearly make out the handprint on the side of her face once she pointed it out. "HE DID THAT TO ME YESTERDAY!" she screamed at them, before practically running along the table to where her family were sat. As she neared, they all looked down at their plates. "Do you seriously believe him?" she asked them.

"Rose, you didn't see him last night" whispered Lily, who was sat in front of her. "Daniel never cries, and everyone witnessed him burst into tears" she said. At this Rose rolled up her sleeves. She pointed to the hand shaped bruises on her upper arms. "That's where he gripped me when he threw me up against a hard stone wall before hitting me and throwing me on the floor" she whispered, crying. Only two members of her family looked up in support; Al and Hugo.

They stood and joined Rose before saying in front of the whole school, who were watching anxiously, "We believe you Rosie" before turning to Daniel. "You lying piece of scum, you don't belong in Gryffindor, hell, you don't even belong in Hogwarts" Hugo screamed at him, before sprinting straight at him. Al held him back just in time, a few seconds later and Hugo would have lunged at McLaggen.

* * *

Scorpius had been watching the ordeal from a few metres away, but it was starting to get out of hand. He had the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables between him and Rose, and it would take too long to walk around, so Scorpius climbed onto his bench and climbed across the table. He then walked through the middle of the Ravenclaw table as well before standing at Rose's side. He turned and addressed the whole school, including the staff that had been intently listening, interested as to how the Head Girl and Boy would handle the situation. "I would just like to say" he said slowly and clearly. Every student was hanging on his every word. "That myself and Rose are NOT in any type of relationship. We agreed at the beginning of the year to be friends, considering that Professor McGonagall obviously thought we could work well together.

"Rose has not cheated on her long-term _bastard_, sorry, boyfriend, with me. If anyone deserves sympathy here, it is Rose, who stands before you now with bruises up her arms and a hand print across her face. What the school witnessed yesterday lunch was the Head Boy trying to console his new found friend. After the war, Hogwarts has tried to inspire more house unity. The friendship between me and Rose is a good example of this house unity. But I can only say that I am _disgusted_ with the behaviour of the school so far this year" he said, turning around so that every student could see that he meant it.

"As your Head Boy, I really am disgusted that you have thought it reasonable to spread rumours about the two most senior pupils at this school, when no one has any proof of these rumours. I will not punish the entire school for this mistake, which I am sure you will not repeat" he said sternly, "But with the permission of Professor McGonagall, instead, at dinner tonight, no student will be allowed to sit next to or opposite someone from their own house." At this, there were many open mouths in the crowd of pupils. Scorpius looked at McGonagall, asking for her approval. McGonagall stood before saying

"I am I complete agreement with Mr Malfoy. Tonight, you will mingle with your fellow students. Anyone who does not cooperate will lose 50 points for their house and also serve four Saturday detentions in my office. Do I make myself clear?" she said.

"Oh, Professor?" Scorpius suddenly said, "I forgot to add, but Daniel McLaggen here, I would like to put in isolation for a week, for physically abusing the Head Girl" he said loudly, clearly, and quite smugly.

"Again, I am in agreement with Mr Malfoy" McGonagall said. "Mr McLaggen, you will report to the Hospital Wing immediately after breakfast. You will not be allowed to leave the Hospital Wing at any given time in the next week. Do I make myself clear?" Daniel said "Yes, Professor" quietly before grabbing a bacon sandwich form a platter in front of him, picking up his bag and walking to the hospital wing.

Slowly the Hall returned to its usual noisy state and forgot about the Head Boy and Girl standing in the middle of the Hall.

"Sorry" Scorpius apologised to Rose, "You may think I took that too far, but they deserve it" he said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, they did" Rose said bitterly. She looked at her family, who were now seeking forgiveness, but felt as if they had betrayed her, so turned back to Scorpius before saying "How's about we go and have that Chess game then?", and grabbed his hand and led him out of the Hall, a small smile creeping onto her face.


	11. Only you, Scorp

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Sorry" Scorpius apologised to Rose, "you may think I took that too far, but they deserve it" he said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, they did" Rose said bitterly. She looked at her family, who were now seeking forgiveness, but felt as if they had betrayed her, so turned back to Scorpius before saying "How's about we go and have that Chess game then?", and grabbed his hand and led him out of the Hall.

* * *

"Rose" Scorpius panted, "Slow down!" Rose had broken out into an excited run as soon as they were out of sight of the Great Hall. Rose didn't slow down until they had neared the entrance to their common room. "I needed to talk to you privately, without prying eyes watching or listening in" she said before muttering the charm to open the alcove.

As soon as the doorway appeared, Rose dragged Scopius inside. As the door slammed shut behind them, Rose pulled Scorpius into a huge hug. "Thank you so much" she said. Scorpius looked down and saw that she was crying. "I was so close to running out of there and never come back. And after I told my family and announced to practically announced to the whole school at he'd been beating me up, I could tell he was planning revenge. But then you intervened and got him isolated for a week! That gives me a week to find someone else" she explained, "because if I find another boyfriend, he'd be able to protect me from him when he gets out of isolation."

Scorpius had a feeling that the second part of Rose's little speech was meant to be to herself, and she hadn't planned to voice it out loud.

"Rose, what you just said has got me thinking" he whispered. "I know that there have been a lot of rumours going round about us, but now that you really are seeking a new boyfriend, why don't we make those rumours true" he whispered into her ear.

Scorpius was suddenly very conscious of what he had just said and regretted it immediately. What if Rose rejected him? What if she turned around and started yelling at him for asking her out at such an inappropriate time? "Rose, I…"

But Scorpius never got to finish that sentence as he was physically unable to talk, because Rose had wrapped her arms around him and stopped him mid-speech with a kiss. Rose seemed to melt on his lips. He had no idea how long they stood there, in the middle of their common room, just kissing, but didn't really care. He was kissing Rose Weasley. The same Rose Weasley that he had spent years tormenting and being tormented by. But now they were stood there, seventh years, friends, none of it seemed to matter. All that mattered was that this girl in his arms was kissing him, and he was quite happy to kiss her back.

After several breathless minutes of kissing, Rose broke her lips free. "That was…interesting" she mumbled.

"But nice" Scorpius whispered, "I wouldn't mind doing that again" he smirked, waggling his eyebrows suggestedly as a joke.

"Ahahaha" Rose laughed, "So it's not just me then" she said. "But you haven't actually asked me the question yet" she smiled.

Scorpius realised what she was saying, so crouched down in front of her and said theatrically, "Rose Weasley! Will you do me the honour of playing a game of Chess with me this morning?"

"I didn't mean it quite like that" giggles Rose.

"How about this then. Will, you, my lovely, gorgeous lady, do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

"Only you, Scorp" she laughed, "But it's a yes anyway." And with that, she crouched down to kiss Scorpius Malfoy, the Head Boy, her old rival, and her new boyfriend.

* * *

That afternoon, Rose and Scorpius happily sat together in lessons. You would have to look carefully to notice the couple acting like a couple, though. In lessons, Scorpius would place his hand on Rose's thigh under the table, Rose would huddle into him, but make it appear as if she was looking at his work, they would hold hands under the table (Scorpius is ambidextrous, so holding his girl-friend's left hand with his right wasn't problematic), and at the end of lessons, they would walk off together happily.

They faced no questions about their closeness, as people just assumed that it was part of their house unity friendship, as Scorpius had declared at breakfast. It seemed as if everyone had listened to every word that he had said that morning, and this was made clear at dinner that evening. As the Head Boy and Girl walked in together, they were greeted with the sight of all of the houses mingling. This came to an advantage for other mixed-house couples, like Rose and Scorpius, because they could sit together. The only people who didn't seem very happy about the new seating arrangements were some of the slytherins, but no one paid any attention to them.

Rose and Scorpius headed to sit down together with some people from their NEWT DADA class, but found Professor Longbottom walking towards them.

"What you said this morning has had a very positive effect on the school" he said happily, "and Professor McGonagall would like to say well done for, although by force, getting the school to mingle with other houses" he beamed. "She would actually quite like to speak to you two right now, before you sit and eat" he said.

Rose and Scorpius followed Longbottom up to the Head Table, stopping when they were standing in front of their headmistress. "Congratulations on making your first impact as Head students!" she greeted them.

"Thank you Professor" the pair smiled. Rose added "although it was mostly Scorpius."

"Ah, but you are mistaken, Miss Weasley" McGonagall said. "Because of your argument with your friends this morning, lots of people have seen that their own fall outs are just as insignificant as the one between you and your friends. I have never seen so many broken friendships been restored in such short amount of time!" she beamed. "As you can see, your punishment for the school's immature behaviour has worked very well at extending friendships across houses. I was wondering if you would like to do an announcement to the whole school in a minute?" she asked.

"What announcement would that be, professor?" asked Scorpius.

"After seeing that these mingled meals will be a success, I have come to the decision that every Tuesday and Friday evening meals will follow the same structure, except without the extreme punishment for incompliance. I was hoping that you two would make the announcement, as the school seems to hang onto your every word when the pair of you are speaking together" she smiled.

"Of course Professor" said Rose, smiling.

"Shall we announce it now?" asked Scorpius.

"Yes, now would be a good time" McGonagall said, her eyes twinkling.

"Stundents of Hogwarts" Scoprius loudly addressed the Hall. Every pair of eyes turned to face the couple standing at the front.

"We hope that you are all enjoying your meal with you fellow students tonight" said Rose.

"And we would like to say that tonight will not be the only night that you will be sitting with the other houses" finished Scorpius.

"From now on, every Tuesday and Friday the house tables will be mixed for our evening meal" said Rose.

"There will only be one change to how these mixed meals are structured" said Scorpius.

"And that will be that there will no longer be any point deductions for those who do not comply. We believe that after tonight, you will all at least be able to recognise a friendly face from another house" continued Rose.

"We hope that you enjoy the rest of your meal tonight and hope to see the school this united every Tuesday and Friday!" said Scorpius, before leading Rose over to where Lorcan was sat talking to Jack. Rose and Scorpius could see Beth and Lysander a few seats down the table talking to each other and one of the Ravenclaws. Scorpius sat next to Jack on one side of the table, whilst Rose seated herself next to Lorcan.

"Evening" said Rose and Scorpius in a slightly unnerving simultaneous greeting. Surprised, they both glanced at each other, sharing a quick smile before turning to their friends. Jack and Lorcan seemed to be getting along fine, so Rose and Scorpius soon joined in their conversation. Dinner was a great laugh, and everyone left with high spirits. Rose and Scorpius headed back to their common room with ear-to-ear grins plastered onto their faces. As soon as they were inside their common room, Scorpius pulled Rose into a gentle embrace before kissing her and saying "We did great! That was so fun!" The pair had been playing footsie under the table for half of the meal.

"Come, on, we should get that Potions assignment started" said Rose, heading over to the shelf containing potions ingredients. The students had to pick a potion from one of their textbooks and brew it perfectly before Christmas.

"We need to decide one a potion" said Scorpius.

"I thought of one we could do" said Rose.

"Which one?"

"Well, it's challenging, takes a few months to brew and will guarantee us a good grade" said Rose.

"What's it called?"

Rose paused, unsure as to whether or not Scorpius would find her suggestion too head strong, before ignoring her doubts and slowly saying "Ammortentia."

"The strongest love potion in the world" Scorpius said thoughfully, before lifting Rose off the floor into a hug and whispering "Great idea! But I don't need a love potion to fall in love with you."


	12. Tease me in the Morning

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Well, it's challenging, takes a few months to brew and will guarantee us a good grade" said Rose.

"What's it called?"

"Amortentia" said Rose slowly, unsure as to whether or not Scorpius would find her suggestion too head strong.

"The strongest love potion in the world" Scorpius said thoughfully, before lifting Rose off the floor into a hug and whispering "Great idea! But I don't need a love potion to fall in love with you."

* * *

Rose blinked back at Scorpius. Had he really just said what she thought he said? "You love me?" she questioned, stunned. Scorpius seemed to then register what he had said and mentally hit his head against a brick wall repeatedly. How could he be so stupid? He'd only been going out with Rose for half a day and already he'd messed up for confessing his love for her.

"Brilliant, well done Scorp" he muttered to himself.

"Scorp?" Rose asked, worried, "You blanked out for a minute there. Anyway, we should be getting on with the ammortentia" she said before pulling her slightly out-of-it boyfriend to a work desk.

Whilst Rose started to find out the ingredients that they would need and found the instructions in her potions book, Scorpius sat there thinking deeply. Scorpius had only had a few girlfriends before, and all of them had dumped him a few weeks into the relationship because they thought he was too shy, quiet and gentle, especially considering he was a Slytherin. But Scorpius knew that this relationship with Rose felt different.

When he was with rose, he felt more alive. When she wasn't there, he felt slightly depleted of strength. When she held his hand, he felt as if fireworks were dancing around up his arm, and when she kissed him out of the blue, he felt that his heart would explode. Scorpius truly believed that he was in love with Rose, but was slightly scared as to how this would turn out for him. Would Rose get bored of him after a few weeks like all the others had? Scorpius didn't think he could handle it if Rose left him.

"Don't leave me" he whispered, almost on the verge of crying. His mind kept running over and over his last break up. He had been going out with Jaz Macmillan for over 4 months in his fourth year, when she turned around and said she was looking for more action in a relationship, and dumped Scorpius right there and then. After that, he had been too scared to have another relationship, and he was now terrified that Rose would do the same to him again.

"What are you talking about Scorp? I would NEVER leave you, I love you too much for that" Rose said, sitting on Scorpius' lap and pulling him in for a kiss.

"Please tell me you're not just saying that to make me feel better" he muttered.

"Scorp, it takes a lot for someone to admit that they love someone. Whilst you've been off with the fairies over here, I've been thinking too, and I wouldn't say something I didn't mean. I love, you Scorpius Malfoy, but my love is turning more and more into annoyance the longer you sit here either not kissing me or helping out with this Potion" Rose smirked. Scorpius laughed and then leant down to kiss his girlfriend.

"What ingredients do we need then?" he asked, taking Rose's hand into his own.

* * *

Rose and Scorpius worked on their ammortentia for several hours. When they finally went to bed, they were knackered. Scorpius gave Rose a goodnight kiss before heading off into his own room.

He was woken up again at 1am by Rose screaming. Scorpius ran straight into her room and cradled her whilst she cried. Once Rose had recovered from her nightmare, Scorpius climbed into her bed and hugged her close.

"I'm too tired for us to walk through to my room" he murmured before hugging her again. "Try get some sleep, hun."

"Hun?" teased Rose, surprised.

"Urgh, just let me sleep, tease me in the morning" her irritated boyfriend muttered into her hair.

"Sure, hun" Rose smirked. Scorpius then grabbed his pillow from under his head and lightly smacked Rose with it.

And then all hell broke loose.

Rose pinned Scorpius to the bed, grabbed the pillow and smacked him in the head with it. He grabbed the pillow off of her and they broke out into a full-fledged pillow fight. Both teens fell back onto the bed half an hour later, panting slightly and surrounded by feathers.

"Reparo" Rose sleepily said. The pillows sprung back together and Rose snuggled back into Scorpius.

"Maybe we shouldn't have pillow fights at 2 in the morning, hun" he murmured.

"Hun again, am I?" Rose gently joked.

"Well, I like calling you hun, so there" muttered Scorpius.

As Rose laughed, she started to hear soft snores echoing around the room. She had managed to over-exert her boyfriend in the middle of the night by having a pillow fight. "Now that'll be a great one to tell at graduation" Rose giggled to herself, before lying back into Scorpius and joining him in slumber.

The next morning, Rose woke to have Scorpius' grey eyes staring down at her.

"Morning hun" he greeted. "Now, I know it's only the morning, but if I ask you now, then you can't hit me when I suggest this" he said very quickly.

"Whaaaaat?" said Rose, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"I want you to tell McGonagall about McLaggen" he said very hurriedly. Rose took in what he had said and groaned.

"Do I have to?" she moaned.

"Yes" said Scorpius, "and do stop whining like a child" he smirked, "It's not nearly as attractive as your normal voice" he joked.

"Ha ha very funny" Rose said sarcastically.

"I know, I'm a comedy genius, hun. You're just jealous because I'm funnier than you" he laughed, but then turned to her again. "I sent McGonagall an owl and said that we wanted to talk to her. She's excused us from first lesson, so you're coming to tell her whether you like it or not" he said.

"I don't like it, no" grumbled Rose, "But you're going to drag me along no matter what I say, aren't you?" Scorpius nodded vigorously, like a child saying that _yes they _would_ like an ice cream_. "Fine, but can we at least get breakfast first?" she asked as her stomach rumbled.

Scorpius offered her his hand and she wrapped her slender fingers around his. As the left their common room, Scorpius dropped her hand, as he had done before, so that no one stared. But Rose immediately snatched his hand back.

"Rose, are you sure you're ready to tell people?" he murmured.

"Yes. You are my boyfriend and I want them all to be jealous of my fabulous man" she smirked before pulling him close and giving him a passionate kiss in the middle of the corridor. "Oh, and because I agreed to come this morning, you'll be sitting with me today" she smiled, an evil glint in her eye.

"You cheeky little slytherin!" he exclaimed. "You want me to sit with your family" he gulped, "as your *gulp* boyfriend." He gulped again, paling slightly.

"They are not about to murder you, hun, and they can't lay a finger on you whilst I'm sat beside you" Rose laughed. And with that, she dragged a slightly lagging Scorpius into the Great Hall.


	13. Stairs

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Rose, are you sure you're ready to tell people?" he asked.

"Yes. You are my boyfriend and I want them all to be jealous of my fabulous man" she smirked before pulling him close and giving him a passionate kiss in the middle of the corridor. "Oh, and because I agreed to come this morning, you'll be sitting with me today" she smiled, an evil glint in her eye.

"You cheeky little slytherin!" he exclaimed. "You want me to sit with your family" he gulped, "as your *gulp* boyfriend." He gulped again, paling slightly.

"They are not about to murder you, hun, and they can't lay a finger on you whilst I'm sat beside you" Rose laughed. And with that, she dragged a slightly lagging Scorpius into the Great Hall.

* * *

Rose confidently dragged Scorpius through the Hall over to where her friends and family were sat. They were greeted by all of them by pleads for forgiveness.

"We never really believed him Rosie"

"You know you love us, Rose"

"We're sorry" said Al. Rose smiled, happy that her family had found faith in her.

"It's fine. But because of your behaviour, you'll have to let my boyfriend sit with us" she smirked.

"McLaggen? How are you still with him?" came Hugo's immediate screech.

"I've got a new boyfriend. His surname also begins with M now I think of it" Rose said mysteriously before turning to Scorpius and smirking his way.

"NO WAY!" cried Hugo, Al, and every other male family member.

"Hi Scorp" greeted Jack "I have to admit I was wondering how long it'd take for you two to get together, you've gotten really close these last few days" he said before gesturing for Scorpius and Rose to take a seat between him and Al.

"What curse have you put her under?" threatened Al, pointing his wand at Scorpius' face.

"He hasn't put me under a spell, you idiot, now point your wand away from my boyfriend's face before I snap it in front of your face" snarled Rose, grabbing Scorpius' arm to stop him from trying to escape. "Either accept that Scorpius asked me out or shift it!" she said.

Scorpius put his hand on Rose's thigh under the table and started drumming his fingers across her lap. Rose lifted her eyebrows at the sudden contact and when his drumming began to tickle her, she slapped his hand as a warning before grabbing it with her own.

Rose hadn't realised that her whole family had been watching the exchange between the couple. They were greeted by several open mouths from her family, a small smile from Beth, an d Jack was sat there with an ear-to-ear smirk on his face.

"What do you find so funny, Jack?" glared Rose.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that you are so obviously the man in this relationship" he sniggered. Scorpius joined in the laughter.

"Yeah, because she's obviously a man" laughed Scorpius, "Well, I hope she's not, otherwise Rose, you have quite a lot of explaining to do" he joked.

"Well, if I was a guy, I'd be slightly worried too" smirked Rose. She began to creep her hand up Scorpius' leg under the table. Scorpius' face morphed as he tried to conceal his hidden laughter, but couldn't hold it in.

"Stop tickling me!" he loudly cried. A few people watched as the Head Boy and Girl playfully started a tickle fight, which ended up in them both laughing in stitches, until they saw McGonagall walking briskly towards them.

"As much as I am delighted to see that you two are…getting along…there is something I must talk to you about immediately in my office. Follow me" she said with a frown.

Rose and Scorpius exchanged a worried glance before standing to follow the headmistress through the Hall. Once they were inside, McGonagall said the one thing that the couple did not want to hear.

"Mr McLaggen has gone missing." Scorpius turned to his shocked girlfriend, who had gone incredibly pale.

"How?" Rose whispered.

"We don't know, but the charms that kept him in isolation were reversed early this morning. Madam Patil was asleep, so has no idea how the wards were countered, but we are now fearing that McLaggen will become a danger to the Hogwarts population" McGonagall said gravely. "I have teachers patrolling the floors whilst the rest of the school is at breakfast. I would like you two to patrol the 4th floor" she said.

Rose and Scorpius nodded before standing to leave.

"Also," called Professor McGonagall, "I would make sure that you watch your backs. McLaggen may be seeking to hurt Rose, so keep her safe, Scorpius" McGonagall said, although she could see that Scorpius would never leave Rose unsafe.

Scorpius nodded before taking Rose's hand and leading out of McGonagall's office gently. As the door closed, the headmistress smiled to herself. She knew that if she put the two alone they would finally sort out their emotions and get together. With a small smile on her face, she headed back to the Great Hall to control the students.

* * *

"He escaped, and now he's out here looking for me" mourned Rose. "He's going to hurt me" she choked.

"I won't let him get you, Rose. I promised you that, and I always try to keep my promises" Scorpius said before pulling his girlfriend in for a kiss. They were waiting by the top of the stairs on the 5th floor, waiting for the rotating staircase to come back to their corridor. Whilst they stood there hand in hand, neither of them heard the person creeping up behind them.

Scorpius felt a stunning spell hit his back. As he fell backwards onto the floor, he watched as McLaggen forcefully pushed a surprised over the edge. Scorpius watched in horror as his girlfriend fell as McLaggen laughed evilly from the side lines. Scorpius luckily knew how to do wandless and wordless magic, so freed himself from the stunning spell before stunning McLaggen. As McLaggen froze, Scorpius ran to the side to see where Rose had fallen. He saw her body lying lifeless on a staircase two floors down. He rushed down those two flights of stairs to reach Rose, who was lying unconscious at an unnatural angle on the ground. He cast a hurried Patronus and sent it to find McGonagall before levitating Rose and hurrying her to the hospital wing.

* * *

The whole student body listened in horror as they heard the Head Boy's distraught voice echo around the room from the patronus in front of the head techer.

"Proffesor" the patronus said shakily, "McLaggen found us before we could find him. He pushed Rose off of a stair case. She's really hurt. Please, please come help. I'll take her to the hospital wing. Please don't let my Rosie die" the voice choked. As soon as the broadcast ended, all of the staff stood from their seats and sprinted to the hospital wing, the Weasley family in tow.

When they got there, they found Scorpius levitating Rose's limp body a few centimetres off of a bed, sobbing endlessly into his hand. He looked up as the small crowd rushed in. McGonagall took one look at Rose's body before muttering a few spells.

"I've removed the apparation wards from this room. Scorpius and I will apparate Miss Weasley to St Mungos. You are welcome to wait here for my return, but please do not follow us" she stated. She them walked over to Rose and took her hand. Scorpius took Rose's other hand and McGonagall apparated them to the St Mungo's Hogwarts ward.


	14. St Mungos

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Proffesor" the patronus said shakily, "McLaggen found us before we could find him. He pushed Rose off of a stair case. She's really hurt. Please, please come help. I'll take her to the hospital wing. Please don't let my Rosie die" the voice choked. As soon as the broadcast ended, all of the staff stood from their seats and sprinted to the hospital wing, the Weasley family in tow.

When they got there, they found Scorpius levitating Rose's limp body a few centimetres off of a bed, sobbing endlessly into his hand. He looked up as the small crowd rushed in. McGonagall took one look at Rose's body before muttering a few spells.

"I've removed the apparation wards from this room. Scorpius and I will apparate Miss Weasley to St Mungos. You are welcome to wait here for my return, but please do not follow us" she stated. She them walked over to Rose and took her hand. Scorpius took Rose's other hand and McGonagall apparated them to the St Mungo's Hogwarts ward.

* * *

As soon as they arrived, a healer walked in.

"Go and get me the Head Healer" McGonagall barked. As the healer ran out of the room, McGonagall lowered Rose's body down onto the nearest bed. The magical mattress adjusted so that it supported Rose's broken figure without causing more damage. As soon as she was sure that Rose was supported by the bed, McGonagall turned to her sobbing company.

Scorpius had sat down in the nearest chair and was softly crying his eyes out into his hands.

"Scorpius, my dear, I know that you are very close to Rose and that this is a very shocking experience for you, so I am going to allow you to stay here with Rose until she has recovered to a stable condition. Normally, we would make a student go back to school, but I don't think it will make much difference if you are studying or not – you are bright enough to catch up easily anyway" she said softly, sitting next to the boy and wrapping her arm around him. Scorpius welcomed the comfort and continued crying until the door quietly opened.

"Scorpius?!" exclaimed a surprised voice.

"Dad?!" exclaimed an equally surprised Scorpius.

"Why are you crying, son?" asked Head Healer, Draco Malfoy.

"I just…Rose…and…I just can't" he shakily replied before breaking down again.

McGonagall stood and took Healer Malfoy aside. "Draco" she said quietly, "I think that Rose and Scorpius are in a relationship, but it is only recent. Rose was pushed off of the 5th floor staircase by her jealous ex, which is why we are here, but your son witnessed the entire thing, so is still in shock" she explained. Draco nodded, shocked. He knew he would react the same as Scorpius if he were in his son's situation.

"Son, I understand that you are probably very reluctant to leave your girlfriend at the moment, but I would advise that you go and get yourself and Professor McGonagall a hot drink whilst I examine Rose's injuries" Draco said gently. "Just tell the staff that I sent you and they'll understand."

Scorpius knew better than to argue with his father, so sadly nodded his head before walking out of the door, wiping his tears as he went.

Once his son was out of earshot, Draco turned to McGonagall.

"Professor…"

"Please, Draco, call me Minerva."

"Minerva, then, I fear that Rose has been injured to the extent that we may not be able to save her life" he said sadly, "But I will do my best for her, and for my son" he said.

"What is the extent of the damage?" asked Minerva.

Draco cast a few charms to reveal the damage before listing "Broken spine, at least 7 fractured ribs, internal bleeding, and comatose" he muttered, amazed that one girl could suffer so much damage.

"What can be fixed now, what will take longer?" aske Minerva.

"Ummm, spine and ribs I can partially fix now, but will need to inject the affected areas with skelegrow afterwards, the internal bleeding can't be fixed without several complicated potions and operations, and Rose will stay in a coma until her body is repaired. This could take several weeks. What is going to be done about Scorpius?"

"I have said that he can stay with Rose until she recovers, if that is alright with you? He will easily catch up on any missed work" she said.

Draco nodded as Scorpius entered with 3 hot cups of coffee. "I thought you'd like one too" he said to his dad, before handing him a cup. Scorpius took two long dregs from his drink before asking his dad "How bad?"

"Quite, I'm afraid" Draco murmured.

"Will she be okay?"

"We don't know yet, we'll have to wait until morning."

Scorpius stood and sat down into the chair next to Rose's bed, taking her hand in his. McGonagall saw that her Head Boy needed a moment alone with the injured girl, so gently pulled Draco out of the room.

"Rose, don't die" Scorpius choked, breaking down into a fresh waves of sobs as the door closed shut. "If you can hear me, which I hope you can, I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart. I'll kill that bastard McLaggen for what he's done to you. Just please get better. You said you'd never leave me, remember? So please don't leave me yet" he cried, sinking lower in his seat, still holding Rose's limp hand, crying harder and harder.


	15. Plaster Casts and Bandages

**A/N: I have never been a particularly spectacular writer, so please review! I really, honestly don't care if what you say is good or bad, I'd just love to hear from everyone more really! Thanks for following/favouriting/reading my story and hopefully, if the reviews come raking in *hint hint* then this story will continue to grow! Soooooo…onto the show! – R xx**

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Rose, don't die" Scorpius choked, breaking down into a fresh waves of sobs as the door closed shut. "If you can hear me, which I hope you can, I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart. I'll kill that bastard McLaggen for what he's done to you. Just please get better. You said you'd never leave me, remember? So please don't leave me yet" he cried, sinking lower in his seat, still holding Rose's limp hand, crying harder and harder.

* * *

Over the next few days, Rose's condition steadily got worse. Her body seemed to be fighting against the skelegrow and other potions that were trying to mend her broken body. Draco had indeed been able to fix everything as he had said, but Rose's body didn't want to respond to anything magical.

Throughout those painful days, Scorpius sat faithfully at Rose's side, talking to her endlessly about this and that, hoping that Rose could hear him. He never left her side once. He refused to sleep, eat, or relax in anyway until he was certain that his girlfriend was better. Soon, it was not only Rose who was assigned to one of the Hogwarts wards bed, as Scorpius' insomnia and refusal to down any form of nutrition caused his own health to decline.

MDraco r Malfoy was deeply affected by his two patients as well, although not as obviously. Although he was slightly uncomfortable that his son had chosen to date the daughter of Ron Weasley (he had never minded Hermione Granger, apart from when she broke his nose, obviously), but was slowly adjusting to the idea. He was then crushed again when one of the nurses informed him that his son was now a new case in the Hogwarts Unit. He tried to talk his son into eating and sleeping, but it did nothing, so had to resort to sneaking Scorpius a sleeping potion in his drink. Whilst he was asleep, he also cast a few nutrition spells on his son, so that he would hopefully start eating again when he awoke. Although some may say that he was trying too hard for his son, he knew that had it been Scorpius comatose and Rose forcing herself to suffer, he would have done the same thing to her.

About a week into treatment, after finding that magical means were having no effect on Rose, Draco had transferred Rose to Great Ormond Street Hospital, the UK's leading muggle children's hospital. He also discharged his son, but only on the conditions that he ate three meals a day and took sleeping potions every night.

With Rose under muggle treatment (complex operations, stitches, plaster casts, blood transfusions, the lot), Scorpius got more and more stressed. He hated seeing his girlfriend covered in plaster and hooked up to numerous monitoring machines.

* * *

About 3 weeks after being transferred to Great Ormond's, Rose awoke in hospital to find Scorpius sat by her side, hand clasped in hers, sleeping peacefully with his head on her bed. Although she could not move anything other than her face due to her numerous plaster casts, Rose she could just about watch her boyfriend as he slept.

A few minutes later, one of the Doctors walked in. "Good morning, Miss Weasley! It's good to see you awake" she smiled, before walking over to her bedside. She took Rose's temperature and took a few blood samples the muggle way before hurrying out of the door to get them tested. As the door banged shut, Scorpius woke up, startled.

"Bloody door" he grumbled, not yet realising that Rose was awake, "always slamming just when I manage to get to sleep. Stupid muggle hospital" he moaned quietly.

"Muggle hospital?" croaked Rose, confused. Scorpius' head shot up, his grey eyes clashing with Rose's brilliant blue ones.

"ROSE! You're awake!" he cried, over the moon. He leaned over and kissed Rose on the cheek, which turned into quite a heated snogging session.

"Scorp," Rose moaned, "although I'm quite enjoying this, I'm aching all over. What happened?" she asked as Scorpius sat back down, taking her hand in his once more.

"That bastard McLaggen pushed you off of the stairs" Scorpius seethed. "You've been unconscious for nearly a month Rose, everyone thought you were going to die!" he said, breaking into gentle sobs at the end. "I thought you'd leave me" he almost whispered.

"Scorp, I said I wouldn't leave you, so shhhhhh" Rose comforted her boyfriend as best she could by squeezing his fingers. "Now, you never quite got to explaining why we're in a muggle hospital" she said.

"Your body wasn't responding to anything magical, so they sent you here. Because of your fall, you broke loads of bones, including your spine and several ribs" he said, shuddering at the memory. "Your body couldn't cope with all the damage so you put yourself in a coma" he explained.

"So the broken bones explain the plaster on my leg and arm and the bandages around my waist then" smile Rose.

"Yeah, but they mostly fixed those at Mungos. Dad had to temporarily re-break some of them to convince the muggles that you fell down the stairs" he muttered.

"Your dad?"

"He's the top healer at Mungos, so he got the job of looking after us whilst you were in there."

"I never knew your dad was a healer"

"He wanted to make it up to the people he hurt in the war" Scorpius said quietly.

"Miss Weasley, good to see that you're awake!" came a new voice from the doorway. Rose and Scorpius turned around to see none other than Mr Malfoy walking towards them.

"I heard you'd woken, so I came to check that my son was holding up okay" he said, making sure that the muggle doctors behind him heard. As Draco sat down, the doctors left the three in peace. Draco immediately stood and took out his wand. He uttered several spells before repocketing his wand. "I just had to check for myself that the muggles had actually fixed things" he said quietly. "Your plastered arm is fixed, your leg will take another 2 weeks to mend, your ribs are healed but you'll have some bruising for a bit and your spine is perfectly fine so I'm sure you'll be released by tomorrow" he smiled at Rose.

"Thanks, Mr Malfoy, for everything" said Rose. "Why exactly, medically speaking, was I put into muggle care anyway? Scorp said I wasn't responding to magical treatment but I don't get why that's possible" she asked curiously.

"Please call me Draco. You may or may not know this, Rose, but you have an abnormally high MEC count and…"

"What does MEC stand for, Dad?" asked Scorpius

"Magical Energy Capacity. It basically tells you how powerful a person is. Muggles have an average count of 0-5 MEC. Witches and Wizards can vary from 100-250. My count is 239, Son, yours is about 215 but Rose's is 264. That's a very high count for any witch, but exceptional for someone of your age" Draco smiled. "Because of this high count, it means that your magic is too strong for any of our medicines to have an effect on it. Normal medicines harness the person's magical energy and use it to heal the person. Your magic just swallows up the extra counts" Draco explained.

"So you put me into muggle care because you didn't want my count increasing through the use of medicines that weren't actually fixing my health" nodded Rose understandingly. "I think my Uncle Harry's count is somewhere near 279, but I'm not sure" she thought out loud.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Potter did have that high a count" muttered Draco, just quiet enough so that the two teens didn't hear him.

"Excuse me, Mr Malfoy, Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley?" asked a doctor as she poked her head through the door, "the consultant is here. Do you mind if he comes to check on Miss Weasley?"

"Of course, come in, we don't mind" smiled Rose. Draco sat on the chair next to Scorpius'.

"Well, Miss Weasley, you are an exceptional case" smiled the consultant. "You fell down two flights of stairs, had a lot of fractured bones, was comatose for nearly 3 weeks and yet have lived to tell the tale!" he beamed. "You should be able to return to school tomorrow if you recover well today I hear that you and Mr Malfoy here attend a boarding school in Scotland?"

"Yes" butted in Draco before either Rose or Scorpius ruined his well-choreographed cover story. "I will be driving Rose and my son back to their school as soon as Rose is released. The hospital where I work is nearby the school so I will be able to get Rose's plaster off when her bones are mended" he said quickly.

"Oh, as you are a doctor , Mr Malfoy, would you agree that Rose should be discharged tonight if she shows progress throughout today?"

"Absolutely. She is currently studying for her A Level exams, so I would say that she should be discharged ASAP! I would think that if she stays awake without falling unconscious again until tonight then she will be fine to travel. I am renting a hotel suite nearby, so we could all stay there tonight" Draco said, persuading the consultant as best he could to let Rose out of hospital.

"I would think that would be just about spot on Mr Malfoy" he nodded. "I will go see if we have a wheelchair for Rose – we need to X-ray her arm, leg and ribs to see what plaster can come off now" he stated. Moments later he walked in with a wheelchair. Both Rose and Scorpius had never seen one of the muggle contraptions before, so stared funnily at it. Draco and the consultant helped Rose sit up and then lifted her between them into the chair. The four of them then headed over to a dark room where Rose was x-rayed (Rose and Scorpius again had no idea what an x-ray was, but kept their mouths shut anyway) before the consultant disappeared to look at the images.

Draco walked over and quietly said "muggle methods are very strange, but don't worry, nothing they just did is any different to us using spells" he whispered.

The consultant then reappeared with a pair of scissors. "Your arm and ribs are perfectly fine now, Rose, but you will have some bruising on your chest" he said, before cutting away the bandages and cast on her arm. Rose tried not to laugh, as she had already heard everything the consultant had just told her form Mr Malfoy.

Scorpius stared as the bandages on Rose's chest were cut away to reveal blue and purple bruising across most of her front and back. He was shocked that McLaggen had managed to cause that much damage by pushing her off the stairs, but didn't start up a fuss – he hadn't seen McLaggen since that fateful day as he hadn't been back at school, so was just biding his time until he could pummel his face in.

"So Miss Weasley, I'll take you back to your room and we can find you some crutches to practice with. You can take a wheelchair with you too if you like, but other than that, you should be discharged later today" the consultant smiled, before Rose, Scorpius and Draco went back to Rose's room.


	16. Cripple

In the Previous Chapter…

Scorpius stared as the bandages on Rose's chest were cut away to reveal blue and purple bruising across most of her front and back. He was shocked that McLaggen had managed to cause that much damage by pushing her off the stairs, but didn't start up a fuss – he hadn't seen McLaggen since that fateful day as he hadn't been back at school, so was just biding his time until he could pummel his face in.

"So Miss Weasley, I'll take you back to your room and we can find you some crutches to practice with. You can take a wheelchair with you too if you like, but other than that, you should be discharged later today" the consultant smiled, before Rose, Scorpius and Draco went back to Rose's room.

* * *

Rose, Scorpius and Draco arrived back into Rose's room, only to find that the chairs were already occupied. Rose smiled as her parents turned around to face them as they came in.

"Rose, hunny, how are you?" asked Hermione, walking over to take Rose's wheelchair from Draco. Ron stood and curtly nodded to Draco before joining his wife to talk to Rose.

"Does he know about me and Rose?" Scorpius muttered to his dad.

"He's probably just as stupid as he was in our Hogwarts days, so I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't figured it out yet" smirked Draco quietly, "but I think Hermione knows, so it won't be long before the Weasel explodes" he chuckled under his breath. His chuckled became louder as soon as he turned to look at his son, whose face had paled significantly. "He'll more than likely kill me over you" he mumbled, "for letting you anywhere near his precious daughter" he smirked as Scorpius' face paled even more.

Scorpius looked up to his dad before replying grumpily "you're enjoying this, aren't you", scowling.

"Oooooh yeah!" Draco joked before shoving Scorpius towards the Weasley family.

* * *

As soon as Ron sat down, Hermione launched into discussing with Rose.

"We visited you in St Mungos when you were still there" she explained, taking Rose's hand. "We've visited you here as well. Of course, when Draco explained they wanted to move you into a muggle hospital there were loads of legal things to consider so we had to sort it all out at the Ministry and we…"

"Why did the ministry have to get involved" Rose groaned.

"Because there was the risk that you would mention something in your sleep" Ron explained sheepishly. "They had a whole session in court to decide if it would be the best way forward, as loads of questions would be asked" he explained.

"But anyway" continued Hermione, "We managed to persuade the Ministry to pass the motion on transferring you here, but the press took several approaches to that decision."

"The press?" Rose managed to weakly say. She knew what this meant, and her dad only confirmed her thoughts.

"They had a field day the second they found out about it. They've barely stopped talking about it. There are so many different versions that we found it hard to find out what actually happened. But Malfoy's boy explained what happened but never said why" he said, drifting at the end as if in deep thought about it all. At this point, Scorpius walked over and sat by Rose's side taking her other hand in his almost subconsciously. Draco watched as Ron's face clouded over with anger.

"Let go of my daughter's hand, Malfoy" he spat, standing up to face Scorpius.

"I would think my son is allowed to hold his girlfriend's hand when she wants support" said Draco smugly form the side, knowing what would happen next.

"GIRLFRIEND?" Ron shrieked before bearing down on Scorpius.

"Thanks, dad" muttered Scorpius. Draco heard and mock saluted his son before walking over to stand behind him.

"I'd say that my son is allowed to ask out anyone he likes" Draco said simply, smirking at Ron.

"Why…. How… when" Ron stuttered before turning to Rose. "Why him?" he asked exasperated.

"Because he's sweet, kind, cares for me and apparently didn't leave my side for the last 4 weeks" Rose said, glaring at her over reactive father. She gave Scorpius' hand a squeeze before continuing "If Scorp hadn't thought to send a patronus to McGonagall when he did, I could still be comatose, right Draco?" Rose asked a smirking Draco for confirmation.

"Indeed. You really did pick a smart girl Scorp" he nodded his approval to his son.

"Ronald, it is _not_ up to you who Rose dates" said Hermione sternly from behind her husband, gently pulling him away from Scorpius and back into his seat. "Scorpius seems like a lovely boy to me, so I'm fine with this, Rosie" she smiled before glaring back at her grumpy husband.

"Fine, but I'm still not very happy" Ron muttered crossly, folding his arms.

"Anyway, as we said a minute ago" Hermione continued, "we don't actually know the full story of what happened…" she said.

"McLaggen pushed me off the stairs" Rose said, her smile turning into a grimace at the memory.

"HE DID WHAT?" Ron jumped out of his chair again.

"He's been expelled, Weasley, so calm down" Draco said calmly. "There was a private court case a few days after the whole incident. That Cormack idiot tried to argue that his son tripped and accidentally knocked Rose, but Scorp's memories got his kid expelled and locked up" he explained smugly.

"What exactly happened then?"

"McLaggen got angry when me and Scorp became friends, accused me of sleeping with Scorp and cheating on him, spread loads of rumours round the school and abused me." Rose said hurriedly. "I had a go at him at breakfast the next morning and Scorp came and yelled at him as well for being a git" she smiled smugly, giving Scorpius' hand a squeeze. "We put McLaggen in isolation, but he escaped and came after us. He then pushed me off of a staircase and yeah this is what ended up happening" she said, hoping she'd covered all of the basics.

She looked up to see not just her parents, but also Draco, sat there staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Well, I'd only heard he'd pushed you off of the stairs, I didn't know that much detail" Draco said, stunned.

Rose turned to her parents, and saw her dad glaring daggers at Scorpius and slowly turning red. Rose realised what her dad thought and quickly added "I haven't slept with Scorp, dad, just a rumour". Her dad gently sat down and his face returned to a normal colour.

"Good."

"Draco, do you know when Rose will be discharged out of here?" asked Hermione, "It's just that Minerva would like these two to return to Hogwarts. Apparently there have been a few more rumours that she'd like them to settle" she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"What rumours, mum?"

"They're not nice, Rosie. Only Minerva and the rest of our family know what has been happening so the students have just jumped to their own conclusions" she slowly said. "You've been gone over a month, Rose, so a lot of people think you didn't recover."

"Great, they think I'm dead" Rose murmured. "Well, hopefully I can leave tonight so we can go back tomorrow" she said.

"You're going to be discharged tonight? That's brilliant!" Hermione smiled. "You can't go back tonight, so why don't you come home just until tomorrow?"

"I want to stay with Scorp, mum, I'm not gonna leave him when he's spent a month by my side" Rose said.

"Well, we have a few spare rooms, so why don't you and Scorpius come stay for the night?" Hermione said, turning to Draco.

"Scorpius can stay if he wants" Draco said, looking down at his son who was staring at him with pleading eyes, "But I'm afraid I'm working tonight, so I'll need to head back to Mungo's in a bit."

At this point, the consultant walked back into the room. "Ah, Mr and Mrs Weasley, it's good to see you. Rose is ready to go, I think, so I just need you to sign some forms and you can take her away!" he smiled cheerfully.

Ron and Hermione stood and followed the consultant out of the room to sign the various discharge forms, leaving Rose, Scorpius and Draco alone.

"If you don't mind, I should get back to Mungo's" Draco said. "I'll need to check up on you in a fortnight, so you'll see me soon enough. Scorp, don't wind Ronald up tonight – he's got a nasty temper" Draco smirked, remembering the Slug incident in second year, before exiting the room, leaving the two teens alone at last.

"We're going back to Hogwarts, Scorp" Rose smiled. "And my dad isn't that bad, your dad was probably just winding you up."

"You've got to keep that cast on still, haven't you? Because you can't fix it with skelegrow" He said.

"Yup, which means that I get to roam around school in a wheelchair and crutches. I'm a cripple for a while" she smiled.

"Well, cripple or not, you're still gorgeous" Scorp smiled before leaning over and kissing his girlfriend.

"Gorgeous as I may be, I haven't had a shower in weeks, and to the looks of it, neither have you" Rose giggled, childishly pinching her nose. "You, Mister, are only coming near me again once you've had a bath or something" she said, waving her finger at Scorp. Both of them burst out laughing and were still laughing when Rose's parents came back into the room. Hermione was carrying a pair of crutches.

"You've been discharged so we can take you both home now" she smiled. Scorpius stood and wheeled Rose out of the room. When they were a short distance from the Hospital, they turned into a side alley and apparated to the Weasley's house.


	17. a bit de ja vu-ish

**A/N: Please keep up the reviews guys! Love hearing from people, even if it isn't necessarily nice stuff! -Rxx**

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Well, cripple or not, you're still gorgeous" Scorp smiled before leaning over and kissing his girlfriend.

"Gorgeous as I may be, I haven't had a shower in weeks, and to the looks of it, neither have you" Rose giggled, childishly pinching her nose. "You, Mister, are only coming near me again once you've had a bath or something" she said, waving her finger at Scorp. Both of them burst out laughing and were still laughing when Rose's parents came back into the room. Hermione was carrying a pair of crutches.

"You've been discharged so we can take you both home now" she smiled. Scorpius stood and wheeled Rose out of the room. When they were a short distance from the Hospital, they turned into a side alley and apparated to the Weasley's house.

* * *

Scorpius' first reaction to the Weasley's house was surprise. The detached house was built along the South coast of England and looked like it had come out of a postcard. The house was quite large and had an authentic look about it. It overlooked the sea, which looked lovely in the late October evening sun.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" asked Rose from his side, taking her boyfriend's hand.

"Yeah" he said, staring down at Rose.

"Shall we go inside?" Scorpius then pushed Rose down their driveway and through the front door, which Hermione held open.

"Our neighbours are muggles, so be careful what you say or do in the garden or out the front" Hermione smiled, before leading them into the kitchen. Hermione made them all a cup of tea and soon the two adults and two teens were sipping their hot drinks.

"So Scorpius, what is your reason for dating my daughter?" asked Ron.

"Because she's beautiful and intelligent and the bravest girl I know" he said courageously, hoping that he'd said the right thing.

"Meh, at least he didn't cower away" Ron shrugged. "He's passed Rosie" he smiled before excusing himself to his study to finish some paperwork.

"Sorry about Dad" Rose apologised as the door closed behind Ron, "He can be slightly intimidating at times" she frowned before turning to her mum. "Can I show Scorpius around?"

"Of course, hun. I'll call you when dinner's ready" Hermione smiled. Rose then wheeled herself out of the door slowly with Scorpius following behind.

Rose showed Scorpius around every room in the house. Scorpius was going to stay in the guest room opposite from Rose's room. Scorpius couldn't help but love his girlfriend's house. It felt so airy and open, and the view from his window gave him a great view of their extensive garden.

He couldn't help but be amazed when he saw the view from Rose's view, though. Rose's room was simply furnished; double bed, wardrobe, desk and a bookcase, and so the main focus of the room was on the floor to ceiling windows that lead onto a small balcony.

Rose wheeled her chair out onto the balcony and beckoned for Scorpius to follow. Her balcony overlooked the beach, and Scorpius felt right at home, sitting beside Rose, looking out over the sea.

"Your house is lovely" he said, taking Rose's hand in his own.

"I know, but it can feel a bit lonely sometimes" Rose said. "The neighbours are both old muggle couples, so it's only me and Hugo here that are younger."

"Well, I'm here for now" smirked Scorpius before leaning in and pressing his lips gently on Rose's.

If Scorpius had thought that Rose melted on his lips the first time he had kissed her, he was wrong. Rose seemed to meld into him as they kissed passionately out on the balcony. Scorpius lifted Rose out of the wheelchair and into his lap, and soon the kissing began to intensify.

Rose had her arms wrapped tightly around Scorpius' neck, whilst Scorpius' arms held her securely around the waist. Rose felt her heart and breathing quicken as Scorpius began to trail kisses down her neck. She had only ever had a few boyfriends before, and none of them had been like this with her. The closest that any of her boyfriends had come to this before was McLaggen, and that had ended up with him pressing her against a wall and raping her.

Rose suddenly pulled away. This was such a surprise to Scorpius, as Rose just jumped back without warning. She would have clattered to the floor if not for his hold around her waist. Worried that he'd done something wrong, he looked up to see Rose shaking with fear.

"What did I do?" he asked softly.

"Sorry, you didn't do anything...just…"

"Just what, Rose? I can't fix it if I don't know what upset you" Scorpius whispered, tucking a loose strand of Rose's hair behind her ear.

"I only ever got this far with Daniel" she shakily said. "I just got reminded of bad memories."

Scorpius realised what she was saying. "We don't have to do anything unless you want to."

"I really would like to do stuff, Scorp, it just brings up stuff I'd rather forget" Rose said. She then cuddled back into Scorpius, who pulled her close and pressed as soft kiss on her forehead.

"I'll never let you near him again, Rosie" he promised before resting his chin on the top of Rose's head and holding her close.

* * *

After eating dinner with Ron and Hermione, Scorpius and Rose went back into Rose's room. Rose pulled out a battered wizard's chess set and set up the pieces on her bed. Scorpius sat down cross-legged opposite Rose and watched his girlfriend get comfy.

"You know, I don't think I've ever played you at chess" she said.

"Then prepare to be beaten" Scorpius smirked, flexing his fingers and cracking his knuckles.

Half an hour later, Scorpius collapsed back onto Rose's bed, with Rose lying down by his side.

"Prepare to be beaten, huh?" Rose giggled.

"Well, I can beat you at one thing" Scorpius grinned mischievously. Before Rose even had time to register what Scorpius had said, Scorpius had rolled over so he was straddling her waist. "Well, this situation seems a bit de ja vu-ish, doesn't it?" he mocked, scratching his chin as if he was thinking, "but I think last time it was you on top of me" he laughed.

"Scorp, get off" she giggled. She gently swatted her boyfriend's arm in an attempt to make him move, but this just provoked him more. Scorpius gently started to tickle Rose's sides, and soon enough, Scorpius was once again collapsed next to Rose, but in a complete state of laughter.

"You only beat me this time 'cause I'm a cripple" Rose chuckled before cuddling into Scorpius. "It's getting quite late, we should probably go to bed" she yawned.

"I'm guessing I can't stay here without being shot by your dad?" Scorpius weakly joked. He rolled off of Rose's bed and when he was standing, stood and kissed Rose goodnight before leaving Rose to go to sleep. As he closed the door to Rose's room, he bumped into Ron.

"Scorpius" Ron nodded, before glancing questioningly at Rose's closed door.

"We've just been playing chess, Mr Weasley" Scorpius explained. "Rose was getting tired so I thought I'd leave her to sleep" he said.

"Well, it is quite late. Go and get some sleep, Scorpius, you're gonna have a long day tomorrow when you get back to school" Ron said before walking away down the corridor.

Scorpius only had a few belongings with him in a case, and that was only Hogwarts robes, muggle clothes and some trackies. He quickly stripped down and put on his baggy trackie bottoms before climbing into his bed.

* * *

Later in the night, Scorpius heard screams coming from Rose's room. Like he had done at Hogwarts, he hastily walked over to Rose's room and opened the door. He sat next to Rose on her bed and cuddled her close, and was whispering soothing things into her ear when Hermione came in.

"Rosie, are you alright?" she asked, walking over to her daughter.

"Just a nightmare, mum" Rose said quietly. Rose glanced up at her mum, and as if they had a telepathic connection, Hermione understood exactly what Rose was asking.

"Just don't tell your father" she sighed before leaving the room. Scorpius glanced at Rose, slightly surprised that she knew what her mum meant.

"Mum knows I need a human pillow to get back to sleep, so she's allowing you to stay here for the rest of the night so long as dad doesn't find out" she explained before pulling Scorpius down into the bed beside her. "Love you, Scorp" she murmured before hugging into his chest and falling asleep.

"Love you too, hun" Scorpius yawned before he too settled down into Rose's bed.


	18. Rita Skeeter and the Real Story?

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Just don't tell your father" she sighed before leaving the room. Scorpius glanced at Rose, slightly surprised that she knew what her mum meant.

"Mum knows I need a human pillow to get back to sleep, so she's allowing you to stay here for the rest of the night so long as dad doesn't find out" she explained before pulling Scorpius down into the bed beside her. "Love you, Scorp" she murmured before hugging into his chest and falling asleep.

"Love you too, hun" Scorpius yawned before he too settled down into Rose's bed.

* * *

The next morning, Rose and Scorpius woke up still wrapped in each other's arms. Luckily for the pair, Ron had been called into work early, so he hadn't had the opportunity to catch them together. Scorpius left Rose to dress and walked back across to his room to find his robes.

Soon enough, Hermione apparated the pair just outside of the Hogwarts gates. McGonagall stood waiting for them and let them through the wards.

"Thank you for bringing them back, Hermione" she said warmly, "feel free to drop by whenever you like" she smiled. Hermione then said her goodbyes and apparated home.

"It's good to see you both well again" she greeted the Head Students. "The school is currently in their last morning lesson, so I think it would do you two good to head back to your common room for the time being. I will see you at lunch, where I think it is about time the rest of the school heard the whole story" she said before walking off towards the castle.

Scorpius wheeled Rose behind McGonagall and was slightly relieved to see Hogwarts again. He and Rose hadn't been to school in almost a month, so were very behind, but he didn't doubt that together they'd catch up fast.

* * *

They arrived back to their common room to find that very little had changed. There were only a few additions to their common room, and that was a stack of neatly folded newspapers on the coffee table. There was a small note attached from McGonagall saying "I know that some of these are not pleasant, but you deserve to know what has been said behind your backs."

So, with the time to kill between now and lunch, Rose and Scorpius sat down on the sofa together and started to sift through the articles. Most of the headlines were basic ones like "Weasley girl hospitalised after jealous ex pushes her off a staircase" and a few "Children of war rivals Weasley and Malfoy dating?" But there was one particular headline that caught their eyes.

_**THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE WEALSEY/MALFOY MYSTERY?**_

_**BY RITA SKEETER**_

_Rose Weasley, 16, the daughter of War Heroes Ron and Hermione Weasley, was yesterday hospitalised after being severely injured by a fellow Hogwarts student. The media have not yet been told who the student in question was, but have been assured that they have been expelled and their wand snapped._

_The story that has so far leaked into the press has been that Miss Weasley was pushed off of a stair case after cheating in her long-term boyfriend, who will remain unnamed, with none other than the son of Draco Malfoy, Scorpius Malfoy._

_We spoke to an unnamed pupil from Hogwarts, who assures us that this story is a twisted cover up for a much darker tale._

"_I have known Rose for a long time and began to notice things changing over the summer" our source told us. "I know that she began to distance herself from her boyfriend and when they returned to school, she was suspiciously close to Malfoy and yet avoided her boyfriend" he continued. "After several rumours were spread, I decided to investigate into these rumours, for the sake of Rose. There was one that particularly caught my attention. The rumour was told to me by one of Rose's old room-mates, and the rumour was that Rose had been sleeping with Malfoy over the summer and was actually pregnant with his child! Rose's boyfriend felt completely betrayed, and after lashing out, he unintentionally pushed her down a flight of stairs._

"_Rose was sent to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Patil discovered that not only was Rose pregnant, but that the child was Malfoy's. Rose was removed from Hogwarts by her parents, as was Scorpius, and so the school had to think of a cover up story for their two head students having not only slept together, but created a child together. This was where the story that Rose was comatose was introduced."_

_After hearing this account, I looked into the gossip at Hogwarts. It appears that the student body know very little about what happened to Rose, as the staff has kept silent and the two head students have been sent away from school._

_This story is looking more and more plausible, so could it be the truth behind the Rose Weasley Disaster?_

Scorpius glanced up at Rose and saw that she was staring gobsmacked at the article.

"What a load of complete rubbish!" Scorpius laughed.

Rose joined in with his laughing and gasped between giggles "who could have thought up such a crazy story?!"

"I don't know, but I'm actually amazed that got published, it's such a load of crap!" Scorpius bent over, trying to get rid of a stitch forming form laughing too much.

"I see what mum meant about rumours though, these aren't exactly nice and I bet that if someone reported it to the papers, it's already been spread quite a bit around here" she said, before grabbing her crutches and standing up. "We should probably go to lunch, Scorp, and start telling people that I'm not dead and I'm definitely not pregnant" she sniggered before hopping towards the door.

* * *

Rose and Scorpius were walking to the Great Hall in with a gaggle of other students, quite a few of which were staring at them in amazement. As Rose entered on her crutches, she heard a shout from the Gryffindor table.

"Rosie! Scorpius! Come over here!" Al called, standing up and running to greet his cousin.

"We were so worried you'd died! McGonagall couldn't tell us much as the last she knew was that you'd been transferred to a muggle hospital!" he said, hugging Rose tight, but being careful not to knock her over.

"Mr Potter, please could you release your cousin?" McGonagall called from the staff table. "I need to speak with the Head Boy and Head Girl."

Rose and Scorpius walked the entire length of the hall to greet McGonagall at the staff table. "The whole school will be here in a minute, so I would like you to tell them exactly what happened to clear up any rumours" she said. "Did you find the papers I left for you?"

"Yes, Professor, we've just read through one of them now. The one about me being pregnant was quite amusing, we thought" Rose smiled before turning around. Scorpius transfigured a spoon from the nearest table into a chair and let Rose sit down, before standing supportively behind her.

The whole school looked up as McGonagall cleared her throat. "Today, we welcome back your Head Students, who have been through an extremely difficult time. I would now like to invite them to tell you exactly what happened" she said, before sitting down to listen to what Rose and Scorpius had to say.

"We know that there have been many rumours spread around about where we have been for the last few weeks and why" Rose spoke, "but we'd like to clarify what happened so that these rumours don't need to circulate anymore."

"You all heard from my patronus that day" Scorpius said, slightly embarrassed as people began to remember, "that Rose had been pushed off of a staircase by McLaggen. This was true. Rose was immediately taken to St Mungo's where she was treated by the top healer, who happened to be my father" he said. Several people gasped at this.

"Rose suffered major damage to her spine and broke not only her leg, but her arm and seven ribs" he continued. "Rose was originally treated with magic, but it had no effect on the more serious damage, like her injury-induced coma. Because the magic was taking no effect, Rose was transferred to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, the leading muggle hospital in the UK."

"I was comatose for 3 weeks, and woke up in a hospital bed covered in various plaster casts, bandages, and aches all over" Rose continued. "When I woke, Scorpius was asleep beside me, and had apparently not left my side since the day of the accident" she said, as several girls "awwwwwh"ed from the tables. Rose glanced up innocently at Scorpius, who was beginning to blush.

"Because I can't have all of my injuries fixed with magic, I have to undergo muggle treatment" Rose continued, indicating her plaster cast, "so am going to have a plaster cast on my leg for the next 2 weeks whilst the break heals."

"We would appreciate it if you did not spread any more rumours about us around school, or leak anything to the press, as it was quite a shock to yesterday find that whilst we have been sectioned off from the magical world in the muggle hospital, some of our fellow students were telling the press anything they could think of" Scorpius said, placing his hands on Rose's shoudlers.

"I'd just like to confirm for you a few things, whilst we're on the topic of Press stories" Rose smirked. "I am, for one, certainly not dead. I'm going to be fine so long as no one else pushes me off a stair case" she laughed. "Two, I am now in a relationship with Scorpius, and am going to try and forget the abuse inflicted on me by Daniel McLaggen in the last year. Just because me and Scorpius are going out, however, does not mean that it is anything else, so as a third point, I have not been sleeping with Scorp all summer, as someone suggested to the prophet, and I most certainly am not pregnant" she finished with a satisfying grin.

The whole school stared back at them as Rose finished her speech. Rose looked up to face Scorpius, who was beaming down at her. "You did great, hun" he said, before leaning down and giving Rose a passionate kiss on the lips, forgetting where they were.

They only seemed to remember that the entire school was watching when a chorus of "awwwhs" broke out from the girls, and then a round of applause began. Scorpius broke away, staring into Rose's eyes before grinning apologetically "I couldn't help doing that."

The whole school watched as Rose leant around the side of her chair and grabbed Scorpius' tie, smirking. She then pulled his tie so that he was forced around in front of her with his face held inches from hers. "You should know by now, hun, that if you publicly humiliate me, I will get you back" she smiled sweetly, knowing that the entire Hogwarts population was hangin on her every word. "And I'm gonna get my revenge now" she smirked as Scorpius' face paled.

He needn't have worried though, as Rose's revenge consisted of her pulling him in for a deep kiss and wrapping her arms around his neck. The whole school clapped as Scorpius scooped Rose out of her chair and carried her towards the Gryffindor table. He put her down on the bench between her cousins and sat by her side, holding her hand.

"You always have to make a fuss, don't you" tutted Hugo from the opposite side of the table, to which the whole group burst out laughing.

Rose smiled up at Scorpius before saying "Yeah, we do", beaming at Scorpius before pulling him down for another kiss.

"EWWWW NOT AT THE TABLE!" cried Hugo in disgust. Rose childishly stuck her tongue out at her brother before cuddling into her boyfriend.


	19. The Dress Robe Mystery is Solved

In the Previous Chapter…

"You always have to make a fuss, don't you" tutted Hugo from the opposite side of the table, to which the whole group burst out laughing.

Rose smiled up at Scorpius before saying "Yeah, we do", beaming at Scorpius before pulling him down for another kiss.

"EWWWW NOT AT THE TABLE!" cried Hugo in disgust. Rose childishly stuck her tongue out at her brother before cuddling into her boyfriend.

* * *

Two weeks later, Rose and Scorpius were sat in Charms, flicking each other with their quills, when McGonagall called them outside. Curious about what was going on, they quickly stood and walked (well, Rose hopped) out of the door.

"Scorpius, your father's here" she smiled, "to check up on everything."

The pair followed McGonagall up the Hospital Wing, where they were met by a beaming Mr Malfoy.

"Good morning" he smiled before using his wand to examine Rose's leg. "Well, your leg is pretty much fixed, but part of the muggle treatment is to then give you a support boot" he said, indicating a massive black boot behind him. "You wear it as a shoe and using your crutches you slowly start putting your weight back on your foot" he explained and Rose and Scorpius sat down on one of the empty hospital beds.

Draco then used his wand to slice off Rose's plaster cast to reveal her fixed leg. He then fastened the black boot on for her and helped her to stand. "Just go carefully at first" he warned, "It will hurt at first when you start to put pressure on it, so don't fully stand without the crutches."

Rose gently put her foot down and applied a small amount of pressure. It was weird trying to stand on her leg after it had been in plaster for the last two weeks, but it felt a lot better than an itchy plaster cast. She gently started half walking half hopping around the hospital wing, getting a feel as to how much weight she could put on her leg without getting any pain.

As Draco watched Rose walk around the hospital wing, he turned to his son. "You've picked a brilliant girl, Scorp" he said, nodding towards Rose, who was smiling to herself as she wandered about.

"I know, dad" Scorpius replied, "I think this one will last" he smiled as Rose returned to his side. He put an arm around her waist and smiled down at her. "Having fun, hun?"

"Yeah, it's cool" Rose beamed. She turned to smile at Draco before saying "Thanks for everything, Mr Malfoy, you've done loads for me."

"I was just doing my job, Rose, but please, call me Draco" he grinned. It wasn't very often that people thanked him for healing them; a lot of people were still prejudiced against him for his actions in the War, and so would either refuse to be treated by him or at best not show any emotion at his work, so he was delighted that he was actually getting praise for once.

"Well, now my work is done for a bit" he smiled, "but I'll see you both at Christmas" he smirked.

"Dad, we have to stay here for Christmas, the Head Boy and Girl always have to" Scorpius frowned, "so we can't go home."

"I know, but I'll see you here on the 24th" he grinned before walking briskly out of the hospital wing. He turned just as he left and saw both teens staring at him with looks of complete confusion on their faces. This was exactly what he wanted, so left beaming.

"What's happening on the 24th?" Rose asked Scorpius.

"No idea, but he knows something" Scorpius smirked, amazed at how much of a shit-stirrer his dad was. First he told Rose's dad about them, then he leaves them hanging about a mysterious event on Christmas Eve.

"I've just been reminded of something…" Rose suddenly exclaimed. "My mum packed me a set of dress robes for this year, but never mentioned what for…" she explained.

"My mum did the same thing" Scorpius added, then grinned as he said "You don't think they're gonna hold a ball, do you?"

"That'd be so exciting!" Rose squealed, "But they won't tell us until nearer the time, right?"

"Miss Weasley, what would you be told nearer the time?" came McGonagall's voice from the doors. She had just let Draco floo out of her office, and he had just told her that he had confused them about Christmas Eve. Draco, although kind and caring at the best of times, was after all a Slytherin, and McGonagall couldn't help but laugh at how he was still entertaining himself by cryptically confusing people.

"Nothing, Professor, just thinking about something my Dad said" Scorpius said, trying not to laugh at being caught.

"That wouldn't have anything to do with the Christmas Eve Ball, would it?" McGonagall smiled, finally telling them what was happening.

"I knew it!" cried Scorpius, hugging Rose who was squealing in excitement beside him.

"We're having a Christmas Ball at Hogwarts?!" Rose asked.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, and as Head Students you will be arranging it" McGonagall said. "The Christmas Eve Ball is not only open to Hogwarts students, but is also for ex-students" she explained, "so your parents, ministry workers, healers, and generally witches and wizards from all over the country will want to come" she said.

"But we'll never fit that many people in" Scorpius said.

"You will have to sell tickets" McGonagall explained. "If I were you, I would only offer the Hogwarts tickets to 4th Years and up, whereas I would post an article in the Prophet to advertise tickets for the General public. The hall can hold 3,000 people for a ball, so I would distribute 500 tickets to Hogwarts students, as some of the older students will have dates to bring, and release the rest to the general public" she said.

"So we're completely in charge?" Rose asked.

"I would start by deciding on a theme" McGonagall beamed before leaving the Head Students to plan.

Scorp, we're in charge of organising the ball!" Rose smiled, turning to her boyfriend.

"We better get organising then" Scorpius smiled, before leading Rose away to their common room to plan.

* * *

A month later, on the 14th of November, Rose and Scorpius had finally finished planning the ball. The only thing that they needed to do was sell tickets.

"We need to put an advert in the prophet" Scorpius said, as the pair was sat snuggled together in front of the fire that evening.

"And we need to tell the older Hogwarts students" Rose nodded, leaning up to face Scorpius.

"Stop worrying, it'll be fine" Scorpius laughed, seeing to worry in Rose's eyes. He leaned down to kiss his girlfriend and ease her worries, but Rose blocked his lips with her hand.

"No kisses until you've written that article" she smirked, before standing and leading her boyfriend over to the desk. As he sat down, she straddled his lap and pulled him closer. "And you actually took it seriously" she smirked, grabbing Scorpius' face and kissing him.

Scorpius, although surprised, subconsciously wrapped his arms around Rose's waist and pulled her closer. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and started playing with his hair. Scorpius groaned involuntarily as their kisses deepened, and started to trail soft kisses down Rose's neck. Rose softly moaned as her boyfriend kept on kissing her, but gently pulled away from him.

"We'll never get anything done if we waste half an hour snogging every time we need to do something" she said, getting off of Scorpius and pulling up a chair next to him. Although he was slightly disappointed that Rose had put a stop to their kissing, Scorpius saw her point, and started to write.

_**Calling all ex-Hogwarts pupils!**_

_The Head Boy and Head Girl of Hogwarts would like to offer you the chance to attend the Hogwarts Christmas Eve Ball._

_Tickets cost 3 Galleons and are available to buy from 1__st__ December. _

_There are only 2,000 tickets, so make sure to apply for them straight away! _

_Please send the attached slip to The Head Common Room, Hogwarts, by 14__th__ December to apply for your spot on the Christmas Eve Ball Guest List!_

_**Name:**_

_**Number of Tickets:**_

_**Total Cost:**_

Scorpius put his quill down and turned to Rose. "Will that do?" he asked.

"That's brilliant, Scorp" Rose smiled, before standing and taking his hand. "We should probably take it to McGonagall so that it can be published."

* * *

"I'll send it off straight away" McGonagall nodded, reading the small advert. "I must ask, why are you charging for admission?"

"I know that it was meant to be free, but I thought it would be nice to send some of the money raised to St Mungo's and use the rest to update some of the stuff in the Hospital Wing" Rose said shyly. "I'm not the only person that Mungo's has healed after injuries at Hogwarts, and I'd really love to give something back to the people that ultimately saved my life" she explained, "Plus, we have plenty of minor injuries that are dealt with by Madam Patil, so I'm sure she would appreciate some funding to replace some outdated equipment or something."

"That's a lovely idea, Rose. I would make sure that you explain that to everyone at the ball yourself, but for now, I think you should tell Hogwarts about the upcoming ball."

"We could announce it at dinner?" Scorpius suggested.

"Of course. You two tend to be listened to when making announcements" McGonagall smiled, before standing. "I would go down now, for last lesson is going to end soon, so people will start heading down to dinner."

With this, Rose and Scorpius walked out of the Headmistress' office hand in hand and headed towards the great hall.

"Time to go tell the school that they've got a ball to look forward to" beamed Rose, leaning into her boyfriend as they walked together to dinner.


	20. Never

**A/N: Come on guys, keep the reviews up! Only a few to go before the 50 barrier is broken! And sorry if you read the old Chapter 20 – I cleverly posted the next chapter to my other story Child Head Girl as part of The Rumour Mill – sorry if I caused any confusion! :L – R xx**

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"We could announce it at dinner?" Scorpius suggested.

"Of course. You two tend to be listened to when making announcements" McGonagall smiled, before standing. "I would go down now, for last lesson is going to end soon, so people will start heading down to dinner."

With this, Rose and Scorpius walked out of the Headmistress' office hand in hand and headed towards the great hall.

"Time to go tell the school that they've got a ball to look forward to" beamed Rose, leaning into her boyfriend as they walked together to dinner.

* * *

The announcement about the Ball was taken in three different ways. The younger years groaned because they weren't invited, the older girls squealed and shrieked at the excitement, and the older guys all groaned under their breaths because not only were they invited, but they would be dragged to the ball by their girlfriends, so wouldn't be able to escape.

Because it was a Friday, the house tables were all mixed, so Scorpius and Rose sat down together with all of their friends.

Whilst Beth and Rose started gossiping about the ball and all the preparations and what they were gonna do with their hair etc., Scorpius, Lorcan, Lysander and Jack started to plan their escape routes.

"I'm not gonna go" Lorcan announced.

"I'll be dragged by Beth" Jack mourned.

"I can't leave as I'm maybe in charge" Scorpius complained.

"And I'm gonna go just for the sake of laughing at all the teachers once they're drunk!" Lysander laughed.

"Oh yeah, Rose!" Scorpius nudged the girl sat beside him, "we have to sort an unlimited supply of booze for the adults, don't we?"

"Damn, I forgot. I'll add it to the list. Thanks for reminding me" she smiled, leaning up to kiss Scorpius on the cheek before turning back to her conversation with Beth.

"At least you'll spend the whole evening with Rose" Lorcan commented.

"Can't do much, her dad'll be there along with enough Weasley relatives to form an army" Scorpius scoffed.

"I heard that, Malfoy!" Hugo yelled from down the table. Everyone between Scorpius and Hugo burst out laughing.

* * *

Later that evening, Rose and Scorpius were sat on Rose's bed, duplicating tickets. They had half changed out of their school uniforms, so Scorpius had changed into his jeans, removed his tie and had the top button of his shirt undone. Rose had decided to change her blouse for a comfy t-shirt, keeping her school skirt on.

"This is so boring; can we do something else for a bit?" Scorpius groaned, standing up and rubbing his neck.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Rose asked, not even looking up from the pile of tickets. If she had looked up, she would have had a slight warning as to what her boyfriend was going to do next. Rose screamed as Scorpius suddenly pounced on top of her from the end of her bed, pushing her backwards and pinning her down.

"You've got 10 seconds before I tickle you" Scorpius smirked.

"I can do a lot in 10 seconds, buddy" Rose grinned, moving her hands down her sides. Scorpius yelped as Rose grabbed the waistband of his jeans and pulled him down so he was lying on top of her. Rose was slightly winded from having Scorpius fall on top of her, but still had enough energy to quickly roll the pair over so that she was the one now sat on top.

Rose tutted as Scorpius groaned. "Now look what you've done, all the tickets are everywhere" she said, waggling her finger in front of Scorpius' face. Rose leant across her boyfriend and grabbed her wand. She gave it a quick flick and all of the tickets stacked themselves neatly in the corner by her desk.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Scorpius questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

"I'm giving us something to do" Rose whispered in his ear, creeping her hand down his chest and hooking her fingers around his waistband. Scorpius gasped as Rose's cold fingers gently skimmed around the rim of his jeans, tantalisingly tugging at them.

"Rose" he choked, "_what_ are you doing?!"

"I told you" she said, leaning down so that her mouth was right down by his ear, all the while playing with his jeans, "I'm giving us something to do." With this, she undid the top button of her boyfriend's jeans and pulled the zip down.

"I didn't quite mean this" Scorpius gasped as Rose started to slowly pull his jeans down. She stopped and glanced down teasingly.

"So you'd rather do something else?" she smirked, sitting up and gently started climbing off of Scorpius' body. She grinned as Scorpius sat up, grabbed her waist and twisted her around so that once again he was pinning her to the bed.

"No chance" he said, his voice husky, before leaning down and crushing his lips against Rose's. Scorpius groaned as Rose responded by deepening the kisses, opening his mouth with her tongue cautiously. Scorpius took the invitation, and their once gently kisses soon became a battle of tongues. Rose arched her back into her boyfriend, causing him to once again moan.

Rose started to casually undo the buttons of his shirt, but soon gave up and pulled the offending item of clothing over his head and threw it onto the floor. She ran her hands along his nicely toned abs, and felt her breath quicken as Scorpius' hands started roaming under her own shirt. Rose, although enjoying this, wanted to be even closer to her boyfriend, so pulled her t-shirt over her head, revealing to Scorpius her bra and flat stomach.

* * *

From there, things escalated _very_ quickly. Soon, Scorpius' jeans, socks and boxers joined his shirt on the floor, while Rose's shirt was joined by the rest of her school uniform and her underwear.

"Rose, are you sure you want to do this?" Scorpius asked quietly, looking down at his now completely naked girlfriend.

"I'm sure" Rose nodded, before pulling Scorpius down and joining her lips to his.

But just as they were about to take things any further, Rose screamed "STOP!", covering her eyes with her hands and began sobbing. "I can't" she wailed. "I really want to, Scorp, but I just can't" she cried, sitting up and hugging into Scorpius. "I love you to bits, Scorp, but this….this brings up bad stuff still" she gulped, before gently standing up. She grabbed her night grown and wrapped it around her before sitting down on her bed next to her boyfriend, who was pulling on his boxers.

"It's alright, hun, I understand" he said, wrapping his arm around Rose's shoulders. "As I said before, only when you're ready."

"I want to be ready, but anything further than kissing and I just see McLaggen's face appear before my eyes" Rose mourned, snuggling into her boyfriend. "I really love you, you know? Most guys would just walk away and never come back if I rejected them sex just like that" she mumbled.

"I love you too, hun. And I'm not about to do anything like that, if that's what you're worried about."

"Maybe I was a little worried" she admitted sheepishly.

Scorpius stared at her. "You thought I'd up and leave you if you turned around at the last minute and said that you couldn't cope with having sex because you're still haunted by being raped by your ex?"

"The most intimate relationship I've had was with Daniel, who was a sex crazed freak, and I told him I wasn't ready, and then when he got me alone, he raped me. You can't blame me for worrying that if I don't please a guy sexually that he's just gonna leave or do worse to me" Rose shuddered as she said it aloud.

"Well, I'm never gonna be like him, you understand?" Scorpius said, lifting Rose's face up to meet his. "Never."


	21. Nightmares

**In the Previous Chapter…**

Scorpius stared at her. "You thought I'd up and leave you if you turned around at the last minute and said that you couldn't cope with having sex because you're still haunted by being raped by your ex?"

"The most intimate relationship I've had was with Daniel, who was a sex crazed freak, and I told him I wasn't ready, and then when he got me alone, he raped me. You can't blame me for worrying that if I don't please a guy sexually that he's just gonna leave or do worse to me" Rose shuddered as she said it aloud.

"Well, I'm never gonna be like him, you understand?" Scorpius said, lifting Rose's face up to meet his. "Never."

* * *

For the rest of the evening, Rose and Scorpius sat together on Rose's bed, duplicating Ball tickets. They had a few breaks, which mostly consisted if snogging and roaming hands, but they mostly spent the evening talking and working hard. The pair crashed at about 2am, reaching a stage where they were just too knackered to do anything but sleep.

Scorpius waved his wand and the thousands of paper tickets flew into the pile in the corner. Too tired to do much, he just climbed into Rose's bed. Ever since they had returned to Hogwarts after Rose's accident, the pair had slept in the same bed every night, so Rose wasn't alarmed as Scorpius climbed in next to her and snaked his arm around her waist.

"Love you" Scorpius whispered, sleepily pressing a gentle kiss onto Rose's shoulder.

"Love you more" Rose yawned before leaning back into her boyfriend's embrace.

* * *

_Rose sat up in a horrifyingly familiar room. The small room was extremely bare, only containing a double bed and a window. She walked over to the window, to see that it was a beautiful summer day outside. At this point, Rose noticed how stiflingly hot it was in the cramped room, so tried to push the window open. It wouldn't budge._

_She turned to see that the door was closed, and that freaked her out. Rose was an extremely claustrophobic person, so the stifling hot room, locked window and closed door sent her into panic. She tried to apparate out of the tiny space, but found that she couldn't. _

_She calmed herself by reminding herself who had bought her here. Daniel. Her gorgeous, caring, lovely boyfriend had invited her to spend the week with him whilst his family were away. Of course, that would explain why she couldn't apparate out; Daniel's father had strong apparation wards on the house to protect them after the war._

_She knew that he would never hurt her, so sat and waited for him to come to her. He never left her for too long, so she knew he would be along soon enough. The door opened, and in came the guy she loved._

"_Hey babe. It's good to see you're up. Want to have a bit of fun" he said, waggling his eyebrows. Rose had never done anything more than snogging with her boyfriend, and he had said months ago that they would go at her speed, do whatever she wanted when she wanted and no sooner, so Rose only thought that they would do the usually – snog each other senseless._

_He started off by lifting her up from the bed and twirling her about in his arms lovingly. He then kissed her with a fiery passion that Rose had never seen before. Her eyes connected with his, and she was startled to see the look her was giving her. She started to worry when Daniel's kisses turned from loving and gentle to desperate and rough._

_He forced his tongue into her mouth, making Rose gasp. This was a bit too much for her, but she couldn't really say anything as by this point Daniel had her arms clamped to her sides with a strong grip._

"_Danny, baby, please, stop, you're hurting me" Rose gasped in between Daniel's brutal kisses. He didn't stop. Instead, he started roaming his hands underneath Rose's shirt. "Daniel, stop, I'm not ready for this" Rose pleaded, fear showing in her voice. At this, her boyfriend walked them over to the bed and threw her down on the mattress before climbing on top of her petite frame._

"_Back off, Daniel" Rose gruffly said, trying to push his off of her with her hands, but he grabbed her arms and pinned them to the bed._

"_Don't you dare tell me what to do" he growled, raising his hand and slapping her across the face. "You will do as I say, you hear me?" he hissed, his eyes glinting with danger._

"_No! Get off of me you creep!" Rose shrieked, kicking him as hard as she could, but to no avail, as he lay down on her, crushing her with his weight. Rose's eyes widened as she felt something hard pressing down on her abdomen – her boyfriend's dick was erect and pressing against her. Daniel saw her eyes widen, and released one of her arms, taking her hand roughly and guiding it down to touch his shaft._

"_You never let me please you" he spat. "You feel that? That is how much I want to please you. Now you will do exactly as I say."_

"_What?!"_

"_You are going to remove those pyjamas and all of your underwear right now."_

"_Or what?"_

"_Or I stab you" he menacingly said, pulling a small penknife from his trouser pocket. He held it to her thigh and lightly pressed it to her skin, Rose gasped as the blade cut her with a searing pain. "Now strip, or I slice you again."_

_Terrified, Rose did exactly as Daniel said and stripped down so that she was wearing nothing. Daniel eagerly dragged his eyes across Rose's skinny yet curvy figure, lapping up the sight of her. He tugged his shirt off before fumbling with the button on his trousers. Once he had undone the button, he ripped off his trousers and boxers to reveal his bulging penis._

"_Open your legs" he barked, flashing the blade in front of Rose's eyes again. "Or I'll get your cousin Lily down here and do the same to her."_

_Rose gaped as she heard this. He wouldn't dare to bring Lils down here and rape her, would he? She looked up into his burning eyes. Yes, he would._

_Rose started to sob as Daniel forced her legs apart and hungrily looked down at her opening. Rose screamed as he forced his way into her, roughly entering her. She cried to herself as she watched Daniel thrust into her over and over again, screaming from pain every time he pushed into her. Rose clamped her eyes shut, not wanting to witness it anymore._

* * *

Rose screamed as she opened her eyes and found strong arms wrapped around her waist. She blindly turned around and punched the sleeping figure next to her square in the nose before leaping out of the bed and grabbing her wand, pointing it at the wizard's face.

She was partially blinded by her tears, so hastily wiped them away, and gasped in shock. Scorpius was now sat bolt upright on her bed, muttering a string of swear words under his breath as he clutched a bleeding, slightly misshapen nose.


	22. My Head Girl broke the Head Boy's nose

**In the Previous Chapter…**

_Rose started to sob as Daniel forced her legs apart and hungrily looked down at her opening. Rose screamed as he forced his way into her, roughly entering her. She cried to herself as she watched Daniel thrust into her over and over again, screaming from pain every time he pushed into her. Rose clamped her eyes shut, not wanting to witness it anymore._

Rose screamed as she opened her eyes and found strong arms wrapped around her waist. She blindly turned around and punched the sleeping figure next to her square in the nose before leaping out of the bed and grabbing her wand, pointing it at the wizard's face. She was partially blinded by her tears, so hastily wiped them away, and gasped in shock.

Scorpius was now sat bolt upright on her bed, muttering a string of swear words under his breath as he clutched a bleeding, slightly misshapen nose.

* * *

"Fuck fuck fuck! I'm so so sorry, Scorp" she cried, running over to her boyfriend and grabbing tissues from inside her beside table, gently dabbing his nose.

"You can punch" he smiled weakly, "But what the hell happened? We were just sleeping and you suddenly woke up screaming and punched me in the face!" he said, questioning her.

"It was a nightmare" Rose said weakly to herself, although Scorpius heard it, before bashing her head with balled up fists. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Scorpius grabbed Rose's hands with his own slightly bloody hands and gazed into her eyes.

"You are with me. You are safe. Do you completely understand me, love?" he said, immediately understanding what nightmare she had just had. "He is never going to get to you again. He will never hurt you like that again" he promised.

"I'm really sorry Scorp" Rose sobbed, "It was worse than before – I watched through it all again. When I woke up with a guy's arm draped over me, I freaked and lashed out. I was terrified! I couldn't see where I was so immediately panicked." She said, a tear dribbling down her cheek. "And now I've broken your nose" she said, frowning.

"It's alright, hun, it's fine. But I need to get my nose fixed up and I can't exactly tell them that my girlfriend and fellow head student punched me in my sleep without them asking questions as to why, can I?"

Rose's eyes showed fear as it dawned on her what he was saying. "I can't tell McGonagall he raped me, I can't do it" she said, dreading Scorpius' response.

"You have to, hun. Look, I'll come with you if you want. If you really can't force yourself to tell her, can you at least come with me so I can tell her?"

Rose didn't like it, but she knew that what Scorpius was saying was right. "None of the staff will be awake, Scorp. I've got a pain numbing potion somewhere, so I can give you something to get rid of the pain, but we'll have to wait until morning to get your nose fixed up and tell McGonagall."

Scorpius nodded, understandingly, but inwardly groaned at his predicament. His girlfriend had just broken his nose. And he couldn't even do anything about it until the morning after breakfast when Madam Patil opened the Hospital Wing. Rose handed him the pain potion, which he gratefully downed before standing up.

"Where're you going?" Rose asked as Scorpius headed into the bathroom.

"I need to see exactly how well you can punch" he grinned before turning on the light to the bathroom. He walked across to the mirror and flinched at the sight in front of him. His face, neck, chest and hands were covered in blood and his nose was definitely broken. "You can definitely punch" he said, shaking his head.

"Let me clean you up" Rose gently said, grabbing a flannel from the basin. She ran it under warn water and gently started to dab at her boyfriend's face. She could only clean up certain parts though, as she didn't want to go anywhere near his shattered nose in case she did further damage to it. She washed away all of the rest of the blood, though, and slowly her boyfriend's upper body was removed of blood stains.

"Let's try get some sleep, hun" Scorpius muttered, holding a tissue to his still bleeding nose. "We've had an eventful night and we have to go to lessons tomorrow." He led Rose back into her bedroom and with a quick glance at the bloodied sheets, turned her around and led her to his room.

* * *

Scorpius woke up the following morning and groaned loudly. The pain potion had worn off and he was now remembering that his nose had been smashed. "Rose, do you have another pain potion?"

"Yeah, I have loads" Rose muttered, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'll run and get you one." Scorpius hastily drunk the potion and immediately felt his pain vanish. He sighed with relief. "That better?" smirked Rose before rooting through his wardrobe, throwing his school uniform at him. "Get up, Scorp. We'll go have breakfast before we find Madam Patil. She doesn't let people into the hospital wing before 9am." She planted a kiss delicately on his cheek, careful not to go anywhere near his nose, and then left to get dressed herself.

"Breakfast was a very bad idea" Scorpius muttered as he walked along the corridor with Rose, clutching a tissue to his nose with one hand whilst holding Rose's hand with his other.

"You're gonna have to lump it for half an hour, Scorp. By the way, we're gonna sit at the Slytherin table today. I can't have my family take the piss out of me the entire morning for breaking your nose" she smirked as they neared the Hall.

As they walked along to Scorpius' friends in the middle of the Slytherin table, people began to stare and whisper.

"What the hell happened to your face, mate?" Lorcan screamed at him as Scorpius sat down with Rose at his side.

"Rose, do you want to tell them?" Scorpius grinned.

"I had a nightmare last night which I've had multiple times and I always wake up screaming and crying" Rose gritted her teeth, "and I guess I got alarmed when I found an arm slung over my waist so turned around and punched my poor unsuspecting boyfriend in the face" she smirked.

Lorcan and Lysander stared dumbstruck at the pair before simultaneously bursting out laughing.

"That is hilarious! I think I'm gonna piss myself laughing!" Lysander howled, gripping onto Lorcan's shoulder.

"What the hell was your nightmare about for you to turn around and deck Scorp?!" Lorcan laughed.

Rose's face turned to set stone. "That's none of your business" Scorpius glowered.

Lorcan and Lysander stopped laughing and frowned. Rose turned around and saw that most of the Hall were now staring at her and Scorpius. As Rose was momentarily distracted, Scorpius mouthed to his friends "Later." They both nodded their heads as Rose grumpily turned around, muttering to herself.

"Rose, what's got you in a tizz?" Scorpius asked.

"I can't stand the staring."

"Then tell them all to fuck off" Scorpius smiled before taking a bite of his toast. He was shocked when Rose stood up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table where a big group of girls were staring their way.

"Do you mind staring at us the whole time we're eating breakfast?" she growled, glaring at each of the Ravenclaws. They all promptly turned around and stopped staring. She turned to go back to Scorpius when her brother grabbed her arm.

"Rosie, is it true you socked Malfoy in the face?" he grinned.

"It was an accicent" she murmured, staring at her shoes.

"You did!" he cried, grinning even more. He ran back over to the rest of the Weasleys who all gawped in Rose's direction. She stalked over to Scorpius, yanked him out of his chair and dragged him over to the staff table.

"Professor McGonagall, something happened last night that we need to talk to you about" she said, looking up the Headmistress.

"Does it have anything to do with Mr Malfoy's broken nose?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"It has everything to do with his bloody nose" Rose muttered before asking McGonagall to come to the Hospital Wing so that she could explain and Scorpius' nose could be fixed.

As the three left, the whispers went up in the hall.

"Did Rose really punch him?"

"If she did, she has a cracking punch!"

"I wonder if they had a fight?"

"Great, now the rumours have started again" Rose said grumpily to Scorpius. Scorpius chuckled to himself but fell silent the second he met his girlfriend's eyes.

* * *

"So, Miss Weasley, would you care to explain why we are here?" McGonagall asked.

"I had a nightmare last night, which was actually more a memory, but I woke up screaming and terrified and ended up punching Scorp" Rose explained.

"Could we have a bit more detail, please? That is not much information to go on as to why my Head Girl broke the head boy's nose" McGonagall said.

"I have nightmares every night, Professor. I only have a peaceful night's sleep if I share a bed with someone" Rose admitted sheepishly. "Scorpius and I have been sleeping under the same covers since the beginning of the year, but nothing more, and so that explains as to why he was next to me.

"For some reason, I had the nightmare last night, even with Scorpius beside me."

"What is the nightmare?"

Rose turned to Scorpius and pleaded for him to answer for her.

"Daniel McLaggen raped her over the summer" he said, gritting his teeth. McGonagall gasped and her hand shot to her mouth. "Rose relives the encounter every time she closes her eyes unless she's got company" he said, wrapping his arm around Rose. "Rose had the same nightmare last night, and so she woke up completely terrified of him. Because it was dark, she had no idea where she was and she felt my arm around her and panicked. She was momentarily terrified that I was McLaggen so turned around and punched me in the face" Scorpius finished.

"Well, that explains a lot" McGonagall said, releasing a breath that she hadn't realised that she had been holding. "I will get Madam Patil to fix your nose and you may go to your first lesson" she said.

"What will be done about all this?" Rose asked, worried. "I mean, is Scorp in trouble for sleeping by my side to save me from nightmares, and am I in trouble for breaking his nose" she murmured, frowning at Scorpius.

"You are not in trouble, my dear. Although that other people would disagree with you two sharing a bed when you are… umm…"

"Likely to shag all night" Scorpius helpfully added.

"That's one way of putting it" McGonagall grimaced, "I can tell that Miss Weasley has been awfully spooked by the events of the summer so I don't think it is likely that this is happening. Also, you punched your boyfriend in self defense, Miss Weasley, so as long as he forgives you for it, you won't be punished."

"Thank you, Professor" Rose smiled. "We'll go and get Scorp's nose fixed now then."

Rose watched as Madam Patil quickly fixed Scorpius' nose with a spell. He cried out in pain as his nose clunked back into place, but was otherwise fine after it had been repaired.

"People think we've had a fight, you know" Rose said to Scorpius as they walked to Potions.

"Well, I think we should give the gossiping school a taste of their own medicine" Scorpius grinned. He leant down and whispered his plan into Rose's ear. She smirked as he finished before staring up at him.

"Let's do it" she grinned.

* * *

**A/N: Woah! I have no idea where that idea came from! But it sure was entertaining writing it! Hehehe... the next chapter was even more fun to write! But...dun dun dun! You'll only find out what happens if you review! - R xx *sneaky grin***


	23. The Howler

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"People think we've had a fight, you know" Rose said to Scorpius as they walked to Potions.

"Well, I think we should give the gossiping school a taste of their own medicine" Scorpius grinned. He leant down and whispered his plan into Rose's ear. She smirked as he finished before staring up at him.

"Let's do it" she grinned.

* * *

For the next few days, the students and staff of Hogwarts were stunned at Rose and Scorpius. The pair refused to be with each other, talk to each other or even acknowledge each other. The rumours flew that they had a massive row which ended up with Rose decking Scorpius and the pair splitting up. Rose smirked as she heard all the rumours; how wrong they were.

A week after Scorpius' broken nose, Rose and Scorpius were still not acknowledging each other. To make the gossip even juicier, Rose had charmed all of Scorpius' belongings to march out of the Head dorms and into the Slytherin common room. She changed the password so that he couldn't get in, and so Scorpius ended up sleeping on the couch in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room.

The whole school was worried about them. Rose was asked several times a day what had happened, but every time she just said "I broke his nose." When Scorpius was asked, his response was always "She broke my nose."

A few days later, Rose and Scorpius had a huge fight out in the quads. They hurled insults at each other, as well as a few choice hexes, and both ended up sending transfiguration spells at each other simultaneously. Students were a bit surprised when the head students vanished, and a ferret and a weasel appeared in their place. McGonagall was not very impressed.

The school had no idea, though, that behind their backs Rose and Scorpius were lying through their back teeth. Rose had not changed the password to the head common room, so he came and sat with her every night to go over their scheme, and the duel had been staged, right up to the point when they both transfigured the other.

"They're totally buying it" Scorpius exclaimed as he walked through the door.

"I know. This was total genius" Rose nodded.

"They really shouldn't spread rumours, you know" Scorpius laughed. "Now, we need to plan the finale of our scheme."

"Not even the teachers will have seen this type of magic before" Rose smiled. "My Uncle George has sent us some stuff to use and he said to memorise it all well so that he can watch it back in a penseive later."

* * *

The next night, Scorpius and Rose's plan fell into action. The rumour went around that the Head Students were missing. Just as people started to worry, an owl flew up to the Headmistress and dropped a steaming red envelope into her lap. The whole school gasped. Who would send McGonagall a howler?

The red envelope slowly rose into the air and turned to face the school. Everyone waited in anticipation for the screaming to start.

But it didn't come. The red letter floated in the air for about a minute making no sound at all. The students and staff started turning back to their meals when they heard Rose's voice scream out of the envelope.

"HOGWARTS STUDENTS!"

Everyone turned to stare at the envelope.

"YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED US!" Scorpius' voice screamed out next.

"YOU THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE FITTING TO SPREAD RUMOURS ABOUT US ALL YEAR, DIDN'T YOU?" Rose's voice screeched.

"WELL, WE THOUGHT WE'D CORRECT THESE RUMOURS OURSELVES"

"DO I SOUND DEAD? DO I SOUND LIKE I DIED IN AN ACCIDENT? NO, SO WHY DID YOU SPREAD THAT AROUND WHEN I WAS HOSPITALISED?" Rose's voice yelled.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I KNOCKED UP ROSE OVER THE SUMMER AND USED HER FATAL ACCIDENT AS A COVER UP STORY?" Scorpius' voice bellowed.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I BROKE HIS NOSE?" Rose's voice cried.

"Actually, you did break my nose" Scorpius' voice added at the side in a normal voice, but then shouted "BUT DID YOU REALLY THINK WE HAD A FIGHT FIRST WHEN I OBVIOUSLY LOVE ROSE WITH ALL MY HEART?"

"WELL, WE HAVE SOME NEWS FOR YOU"

"OPEN THE GREAT HALL DOORS!" Scorpius' voice ordered.

The doors to the hall automatically opened up to reveal the one and only Rose and Scorpius, stood right on the other side of the doors, snogging each other for dear life. The whole school gawped as they watched the head students passionately make out after a week and a half of ignoring each other.

Rose looked into Scorpius' eyes, smiled against his lips, and turned to face the school.

"You really thought we'd had a fight and that you could make up gossip about us whenever you wanted" she laughed. "Well, your gossip caused us to think. What if we gave you something to gossip about for a change, instead of leaving you to assume what happened" she smirked at Scorpius. "Now?"

"Now" he grinned.

"Ebullio!" they both said, pointing their wands towards the staff table. Instantly, mountainous quantities of foaming bubbles sprayed across the great hall, drenching everyone in foam. Rose and Scorpius waded through the foam to the front of the hall.

"OY!" Scorpius cried, to catch everyone's attention from the bubble invasion.

"Scourgify" Rose muttered, cleaning away all of the bubbles.

"This is your final warning, Hogwarts students. Rumours get you nowhere. They just start conflict and stir trouble, and if you really aren't careful the rumours might just become true" Scorpius smirked. Everyone sat in shocked silence.

"You wanted to spread rumours about us fighting, so we gave you a fight. But from now on, we won't be hearing any more rumours, will we?" Rose smiled sweetly.

Scorpius and Rose then grinned at each other before turning to the Headmistress and smiling. "We had to catch their attention somehow" Scorpius smirked.

"30 points from your houses for staging such a ridiculous stunt" she said, the whole hall hearing her every word, "you two do have drastic ideas to stop the school from gossiping about you though" she chuckled before turning to face her pupils. "If I hear another rumour about my head students again, the entire school will be in here writing lines. Understood?" she stated.

With that, Rose and Scorpius turned around and walked out of the hall hand in hand.

* * *

"That was fun" Rose giggled as they sat down on their sofa.

"Certainly was, but no more stunts, yeah? We had to put far too much thinking into that one" he grinned, leaning down and kissing Rose again.

The excitement of the bubble explosion caused the school to become very wary of their head students. The rumours stopped, and Rose and Scorpius found several apology letters sent to them through the post from some of the hard-core shit spreaders of Hogwarts.

Rose's Uncle George laughed for half an hour after watching his newest product, Bubbletastic, explode inside the great hall. "This one'll make me a fortune now!" he grinned.

As December approached, the bubble incident was soon forgotten, and replaced by anticipation for the Christmas Eve Ball. Rose and Scorpius received hundreds of applications for tickets, and in the end had to sort them with magic. The tickets sold fast, and by the 4th December, 4 days after first allowing applications, all of the tickets were sold.

Before they knew it, it was the 15th December and the Christmas holidays had begun. Rose and Scorpius were kept busy right up until the 23rd organising the Ball. On Christmas Eve itself, Rose and Scorpius were well aware that they would be busy all night, so just spent the morning chilling out and doing homework together.

After lunch, Scorpius left for the Slytherin common room and Rose invited all of the Weasley girls into the head common room to get ready. As he walked away, Scorpius couldn't help wonder why it would take 4 girls an entire afternoon to get ready, but didn't question it. He wandered down to the dungeons and was met by Lorcan and Lysander.

"Scorpius, why are you down here? You haven't been kicked out again as a stunt, have you?" Lorcan grinned.

"Nope, I've been kicked out so Rose and her family can spend the afternoon getting ready for tonight" he said, sitting down.

"How does it take the whole afternoon to get ready?" Lysander asked, amazed.

"I have no idea whatsoever, mate" Scorpius laughed. "So what do you want to talk about?"

* * *

**A/N: I was a bit nervous about posting this chapter as I didn't know how people would take it, but I figured that either way, I had to give you guys something entertaining, so why not send McGonagall a howler and drench the school in bubbles? Reviews would make my day for this chapter – I have no idea what people are going to think. But thumbs up guys – it's the ball next time! - Rxx**


	24. It's meant to be a surprise

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Scorpius, why are you down here? You haven't been kicked out again as a stunt, have you?" Lorcan grinned.

"Nope, I've been kicked out so Rose and her family can spend the afternoon getting ready for tonight" he said, sitting down.

"How does it take the whole afternoon to get ready?" Lysander asked, amazed.

"I have no idea whatsoever, mate" Scorpius laughed. "So what do you want to talk about?"

* * *

Up in the head dormitory, Rose, Lily, Roxy and Beth knew the secret behind why it took girls the entire afternoon to get ready for the ball at 8pm – it didn't. The girls knew that they would have to start getting ready at 3, so sat around for the two hours in between gossiping.

"So, Rosie, you going to tell us why you and Scorp organised that little stunt?" Lily giggled.

"Everyone was spreading rumours about us, and we just got fed up so decided to give them a lesson really" Rose said matter-of-factly.

"But did you have to make it so damn funny?" Roxy laughed.

"What was your favourite bit of it?" Rose grinned.

"Well, the howler that landed in McGonagall's lap was brilliant"

"And then it didn't go off for a minute so everyone started to forget it"

"But then you and Scorp started screaming out of it, which was hilarious"

"and then you topped it off by not only giving us a laugh by eating off Scorp's face, but you also covered every surface in bubbles" Beth finished before all four girls burst out laughing.

"Uncle George helped" Rose smirked. "He reckons he'll make a killer profit on the bubbletastics"

"Yeah, but that's Uncle George for you" Lily beamed. "Oh my God, look at the time…we need to be getting ready!"

"Right, we need to be organised about this. Lily, shower. Then Rox, Beth then me, yeah?" Rose said pointing to the bathroom. "Lils, can you do nails, Beth, hair, Rox make up and I'll find out the dresses and accessories."

With that, everyone got to work. Whilst the other girls took their showers, Rose opened her wardrobe and pulled out 4 garment bags. She laid them on the bed before searching in other drawers for shoes, jewellery, make up, nail varnish and hair pins. She had kept everything hidden away so that Scorpius had no chance of guessing what she was going to wear. She remembered his argument when she had first told him he couldn't see the dress.

"_Can I see it?"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" he whined_

"_It's meant to be a surprise" she smirked._

"_But if I don't know what you're wearing then I can't coordinate my tie" he smirked back._

"_I've got you a new tie to match, but you can't see it until the night" she grinned._

"_You planned this all along."_

"_Of course. But I'll give you a hint"_

"_A hint you say?"_

"_Only one"_

"_What is it?" he asked eagerly._

"_I'm wearing a dress" she smirked before running into her room and locking the door. She quickly locked the bathroom door as well so he couldn't try to get in that way. Removed the gown from her trunk and hung it up in her wardrobe, placing a concealment charm on it so that it looked like an everyday set of robes. "He'll never find it" she giggled to herself before going to face her boyfriend, who was currently trying to unlock the door._

* * *

Three hours later, the girls were sat in front of the fire, nails, makeup and hair done, and were trying to get Rose to tell them the theme of the ball. Rose had announced the ball and said that formal attire was required, but had said that the theme of the Great Hall would remain a mystery until she and Scorpius opened the ball.

"Please tell us Rose"

"Please?"

"We won't tell"

"It's meant to be a surprise so shut up!" Rose grinned before standing up. "I have to go down and meet Scorp early so we can greet everyone when they arrive, so I'm gonna go and get dressed. You guys can come and get ready too, but you're not allowed to come down early, so you can either stay here once I'm gone or go and find your dates" she smiled before walking to her room.

Rose was really happy with her outfit and couldn't wait to see her boyfriend's face when he saw it. Her dark blue dress hugged her figure tightly, accentuating all of her curves, and then flared out just above the knee, billowing out gently. The strapless gown had a corset style lace up back and was finished off with glittering diamonds clustered around the sweetheart neckline and waist. Rose couldn't help but wonder how her mum had managed to sneak it into her trunk at the beginning of the year.

Rose smiled to herself as she slipped into the dress, lacing up the back with her wand. Lily had used a few charms to grow her nails longer and shape them before coating them in a glittering navy polish that matched her gown. Beth had then used a few more charms to extend, curl and pin Rose's hair into place, leaving Rose's gentle auburn waves to cascade down her back to about waist height. Roxy had finally finished off Rose's make over by applying a thin layer of foundation, applying a soft pink lipstick and exaggerating her bright blue eyes by covering her thick lashed in mascara, applying eye liner and adding a soft blue eye shadow.

Rose finished off her look by slipping into a pair of blue heels with silver diamonds scattered over them and putting on a simple yet gorgeous diamond necklace her muggle grandparents had bought her for her 16th birthday.

She stood in front of her full length mirror and smiled – she had put a lot of effort into tonight, and was definitely going to enjoy it. She grabbed the silky blue tie from her bedside table and put it in her small clutch bag before heading down into the common room.

"Rose, you look amazing!" Beth gasped as she descended down the stairs. "You're going to need a female body guard, Scorp isn't gonna be able to keep his hands off of you!" she beamed, running over to hug her best friend.

"He better keep his hands to himself" she grinned, "At least until our parents are all completely piss drunk!" she laughed. With that, she left her three friends to go and find her boyfriend.

* * *

"Scorpius, it's nearly 6.30. Rose'll no doubt be waiting for you by now" Lorcan said, poking his friend.

"I guess I better go and get dressed then" he said, grabbing his dress robes and disappearing into the boy's bathroom.

When he emerged, he yelped as someone covered his eyes. "Rose is here" Lorcan said, teasingly clamping his hands over his best mate's eyes.

"Lorcan, get off of my boyfriend" Scorpius heard Rose's voice call, and even with his eyes covered he could hear from her voice that she was smirking at him. "I think he deserves to see me"

Lorcan huffed but then removed his hands. Scorpius blinked twice to adjust his eyes before looking over to the fireplace and gasped. His girlfriend was indeed stood by the fire looking absolutely amazing in a dark blue dress. He opened and closed his mouth several times as Rose slowly walked towards him, an innocent look on her face.

"Scorpius, hun, you're not a goldfish" she grinned before wrapping a tie around his neck, pulling him closer. "What do you think?" she asked as she tied the blue silk around his neck.

"You look stunning" Lorcan said from behind them.

"You look completely gorgeous" Lysander grinned. And in unison they said quickly "And if Scorpius wasn't going out with you we'd shag you on the spot" they smirked before laughing and giving each other a high-five. Scorpius glared daggers at his friends before turning back to his girlfriend.

"Can we kill them now or later?" she grinned.

"Eh, maybe later" he laughed, "but they're totally right, you look absolutely amazing" he smiled before leaning down and kissing his girl.

"We have to go" she said, grinning. "We'll deal with those two later. Do I really look that shagable?" she smirked as she took Scorpius' hand and led him out of the common room.

"Yes" he said huskily, turning to face Rose before pulling her in for a kiss again.

"Scorp, we need to go to the hall" Rose giggled before gently pushing her boyfriend off of her.

"Do we have to?" he whined like a small child, grabbing Rose's hand and leading her down the corridor.

"Yes we do, so stop whinging" Rose smirked.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I lied, The Ball wasn't this time, it's maybe in next chapter? I had too much to write, so I had to split it somewhere! Keep Reviewing! - Rxx**


	25. I can't believe dad let you wear that!

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"We have to go" she said, grinning. "We'll deal with those two later. Do I really look that shagable?" she smirked as she took Scorpius' hand and led him out of the common room.

"Yes" he said huskily, turning to face Rose before pulling her in for a kiss again.

"Scorp, we need to go to the hall" Rose giggled before gently pushing her boyfriend off of her.

"Do we have to?" he whined like a small child, grabbing Rose's hand and leading her down the corridor.

"Yes we do, so stop whinging" Rose smirked.

* * *

Scorpius smiled as they closed the doors to the great hall behind them. Rose really had been right about having a winter ball theme. The small round tables along the two sides were made of glass and were covered with gorgeous snowflake doilies. The floor had been transfigured so that it resembled white marble, glittering slightly, and was perfectly smooth for dancing on. There was food along the back wall of the hall, with a table for drinks next to it. Scorpius smirked when he thought about the drinks – he's charmed it so that the alcoholic drinks would turn to water if anyone under 17 tried to sneak some away.

He looked down to see Rose beaming up at him. "It really was worth all the effort we put into this for the last two days" she smiled, gently squeezing his hand, "Tonight is going to be fantastic."

"We have half an hour until people start arriving, so shall we go and say hello to our guests?" he beamed. They walked over to the corner of the hall, where a small orchestra were setting up.

"You must be Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley" a short, fat wizard said, walking over to shake their hands. "My name is David Morris, I conduct the orchestra" he said, indicating the smiling collection of people behind him. "I must say, you really have done a great job here. We were so excited to receive your owl inviting us – one of my collegues said she wanted to come, but forgot to send off her application, so by the time she did, there was a notice in the Prophet saying the tickets were all gone."

"It's nice to meet you" Rose said politely, shaking his hand. "People will start arriving in about half an hour, so could you please begin then? We have The Rejects coming to perform at about 9 o clock, so you guys can have an hours break then" she smiled.

One of the younger members of the orchestra, who Rose recognised to be Anna Clearwater, one of Molly's old Hogwarts friends, came forward.

"Hi Rose, good to see you again. Did I just hear that The Rejects are performing later?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we managed to book them a while ago. They said that they'd do anything just to come back to Hogwarts, so they're going to perform later" Rose said. "Anna, this is my boyfriend and fellow head student, Scorpius Malfoy. Scorp, this is one of my cousin Molly's friends, Anna Clearwater" she said as the two shook hands.

"I remember you" Anna nodded. "Scrawny little blonde who just kept out of everyone's way. You must have been about 3rd year when I was in my 7th."

"I think I can remember you. Were you Head Girl?" Scorpius asked, trying to remember Anna. "I can't remember many faces who were more than a year above us really" he frowned.

"Molly was head girl, but we were always together" Anna smiled, "so don't worry if you couldn't tell who was who. It's really nice to see you again Rose. Is everybody else coming along later?"

"Yeah, you can catch up with everyone" Rose beamed. "People are due to start arriving at 7.30, so you guys have about 20 minutes before the early birds start to show up" she grinned. "We better go and check that the house elves are doing okay with the food and drinks, so I'll see you later." Rose waved goodbye to her friend and grabbed Scorpius' hand, leading him out of the hall.

* * *

"We've already checked on the house elves" he frowned, "so where are we going?"

"McGonagall wanted us to report back to her that there were no problems before 7" she explained, leading him towards her office. McGonagall opened the door to them and her face lit up with a smile.

"You both look wonderful" she beamed. "I take it that there were no problems?"

"None at all, Professor" Scorpius smiled. "we just need to check to apparation wards and that's all done"

The pair heard a pop and McGonagall disappeared. Moments later, there was another pop and the headmistress said "They'll remain lifted until about 1am. How are you planning on finishing up?"

"Uncle George sent us some fireworks, so at midnight we'll lead everyone outside for a display that we've set up and then announce that it's over and everyone should return home or to their dormitories" Rose said.

"I see that is everything sorted, then" the headmistress smiled. "I will see you down in the hall shortly. The dentention students from the younger years are going to be collecting tickets, so if you two don't mind, I would like you to open the ball with the first dance."

"Of course, Professor" Scorpius smiled before leading Rose out of the office. As soon as they were out of earshot, Rose turned to her boyfriend with a frown.

"I can't dance"

"Then I'll teach you. Come on, we'll go back into the hall and I'll show you" he smiled. "It's not that hard really, you just follow my lead."

After 15 minutes of dancing lessons, Rose had got the knack of it, and the pair was effortlessly waltzing around the room. The orchestra started to play as the doors opened, so the pair stood by the door and welcomed their guests, inviting them to sit down at one of the tables. By 8 o clock, everyone had arrived and the doors were shut. McGonagall was stood at the front and began the announcements.

"I would like to thank you for attending the Hogwarts Christmas Eve Ball. I hope you agree that our Head Boy and Girl have organised this very well, and hope that you enjoy the evening they have planned. I would now like to invite Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley to open the ball with the first dance" she said, finishing with an applause. Scorpius took Rose's shaking hand and led her to the centre of the dance floor.

"What if we mess up?" she whispered, nervous.

"We won't. Just don't think about it. Let me lead you" he whispered back, before taking Rose's waist and clasping her hand firmly in his. As the music started, Scorpius danced Rose across the floor, spinning and twirling her the whole time. "You look absolutely stunning tonight" he whispered into her ear as they moved gracefully across the floor.

"Thank you. I love you" she smiled. "Where did you learn to dance like this?"

"I love you too, hun. My grandmother taught me when I was a little kid. I have to go to the Malfoy New Years Ball every year, so she taught me how to dance" he shrugged. As the music came to an end, he couldn't help but pull Rose in for a kiss as the rest of the guests applauded them, filtering onto the floor for the next dance. Scorpius led Rose over to where his parents and grandmother were stood.

"Darling, you danced so well. I bet you're glad I taught you now" his grandmother beamed, hugging her grandson. "You must be Rose. It's a pleasure meeting you" Narcissa said, hugging Rose as well.

"I'm Astoria, Scorpius' mum" the woman next to Draco smiled, before again enveloping Rose in a hug. "Scorpius, you've grown again!" she said, hugging her son as well.

"It's good to see you're both doing well" Draco greeted, again hugging the pair. "You really have done a great job at this. Thank you for sending us tickets early" he smiled before turning to his neighbour.

"This is my friend Blaise Zambini and his wife Daphne" he introduced them. He also introduced another friend named Pansy and her husband Theo. The men shook her hand while the women hugged her, complimenting Rose's dress and congratulating them on the ball.

"As much as I'm loving you all meeting Rose" Scorpius beamed, "we're being summoned somewhere else. We'll see you later" he said, before taking Rose's hand and turning her away. "Enjoy the ball!"

Scorpius led Rose over to another table, which was occupied by the Weasleys and Potters. "Hey Rosie, this is amazing" Hermione greeted. "It's lovely to see you both. That dance was beautiful" she smiled.

"It's lovely to see you too, mum" Rose hugged her, "Thanks for sending me the dress, it's gorgeous. The dancing was all Scorp, you know I can't dance" she laughed, hugging Scorpius close by snaking her arm around his waist. She smiled as his arm linked behind her back as well.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Mr and Mrs Weasley" Scorpius said, shaking Hermione and Ron's hands. Rose then introduced her to everyone else at the table. 5 uncles, 4 aunts, 2 grandparents (Mr and Mrs Granger decided to stay in Australia after the war) and several cousins later, Scorpius had been introduced to all of the Weasleys and Potters that he didn't already know. They wished Rose's family a good night and went to find their friends.

* * *

Lorcan, Lysander, Al, Beth, Jack, Lily, and Hugo were all sat at a table with their dates. As Scorpius and Rose sat down, everybody began to congratulate them.

"It really looks lovely in here"

"That was wonderful dancing at the start"

"Your look amazing, Rosie" Al smiled.

"I can't believe dad let you wear that!" from Hugo, "but it looks lovely on you anyway Rosie" he added.

"You still look completely shaggable" Lorcan and Lysander smirked, only to be silenced by glares from Scorpius, Al, and Hugo. "Take it as a compliment" they said, raising their hands in surrender. The girls all laughed at the boys' silliness, and settled down at the table. They all went and grabbed a plate of food and a drink. The 7th years all grabbed some firewhiskey, taunting Hugo and Lily who wouldn't be 17 for another 2 years yet.

"This evening is going to be great" Scorpius said, hugging Rose's waist. "Would you care for another dance?"

Scorpius and Rose were joined on the dance floor by the rest of the table, and soon they were walzing away. Scorpius regretfully let Rose dance with Al, Hugo, Jack, Lorcan and Lysander, but when they'd each had a dance, snatched her back playfully. "You're mine for tonight" he whispered seductively in her ear, making her shiver. He led her back to their table after a few more dances, and the pair had another drink before circulating the hall, talking politely to their guests.


	26. A Matter of Urgency

**A/N: This chapter is very short, and for that I do apologise, but I couldn't help but give you some suspense! Review for the plot to unfold! You won't be disappointed! – a smirking R xx**

* * *

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"This evening is going to be great" Scorpius said, hugging Rose's waist. "Would you care for another dance?"

Scorpius and Rose were joined on the dance floor by the rest of the table, and soon they were walzing away. Scorpius regretfully let Rose dance with Al, Hugo, Jack, Lorcan and Lysander, but when they'd each had a dance, snatched her back playfully. "You're mine for tonight" he whispered seductively in her ear, making her shiver. He led her back to their table after a few more dances, and the pair had another drink before circulating the hall, talking politely to their guests.

* * *

Rose and Scorpius circulated the hall for about 20 minutes, not only saying hi to their fellow students but talking with the adult guests. Scorpius was just about to pull Rose away from a conversation with Luna Scamander nee Lovegood when he spotted someone he never expected to see with two adults. Rose looked up at Scorpius, noticed he was staring and followed his line of vision. She immediately went pale.

"What's he doing here?" she whispered almost inaudibly, but Scorpius heard.

"I don't know, I don't remember selling him a ticket" Scorpius seethed. "Why the fuck would he turn up when there are so many people that would want to kill him in this room?" he said through gritted teeth. "Rose, don't go anywhere near him. We need to find my dad, your parents and McGonagall" he said, turning Rose around, smiling to Mrs Scamander and quickly walking away. They quickly found McGonagall, who was talking to an elderly witch.

"Excuse me, Professor, we had an issue. It's a matter of urgency" Rose frowned, shaking slightly.

"What is the problem, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked, concerned when she saw how pale the head girl was, who was shaking so violently that Scorpius had to hold her upright.

"McLaggen is here, Professor" Scorpius said quietly.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I feel so evil for such a cliff hanger. Review for more! I f i get enough reviews to persuade me, I might put on the next chapter tonight! - Rxx**


	27. I am completely safe

**In the Previous Rather Short Chapter…**

"Excuse me, Professor, we had an issue. It's a matter of urgency" Rose frowned, shaking slightly.

"What is the problem, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked, concerned when she saw how pale the head girl was, who was shaking so violently that Scorpius had to hold her upright.

"McLaggen is here, Professor" Scorpius said quietly.

* * *

McGonagall gasped. "How?"

"His parents are here, Professor, so I assume they bought him a ticket too" Rose said weakly. "Please Professor, get rid of him" she pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.

"Shhh, don't cry" Scorpius started to panic. "You've put so much effort into this night, Rosie. We won't let him ruin it" he soothed, enveloping her in a hug.

"Don't worry, Miss Weasley. I will inform your parents, and Mr Malfoy's and together we will remove him from the hall. Scorpius, please can you take Rose to her friends and stay with her. Keep to large numbers, but don't let Rose out of your sight" McGonagall said, running off towards the dance floor, where she could see a bright blonde head waltzing around.

"Draco, I am sorry to interrupt your evening, but we have a problem that we require your assistance with" she said, tapping her hand on the blonde man's shoulder. Draco turned, surprised, but saw the grave look on his old teacher's face and followed her off of the floor over to the side.

"Rose and Scorpius have just discovered that Mr McLaggen is here" she said. "Rose has gone into paralytic shock, I think, so would you kindly go and check that she is alright? Scorpius is with her, and they are going to stay with their friends until Mr McLaggen is removed, but I would still like a healer to look her over" she said, nodding towards Rose and Scorpius.

Rose was indeed in paralytic shock. Scorpius had managed to get her to sit down and was holding her hand and rubbing her back, furiously talking to the other people at their table. As Draco watched his son finish speaking, he watched as the jaws of the people around him hit the floor; he had obviously just told them that the bastard was here. Draco took this as his cue to go and check Rose.

"Son, Rose, McGonagall has just explained the situation. She's sent me to try and help Rose recover" he said gently, kneeling at Rose's side. "Rose, I need you to listen to me. I know that you are probably very scared that McLaggen is going to hurt you again, but let me make this very clear. You are surrounded by enough wizards and witches to form an army, all of which can protect you at ease. You are completely safe. Your friends, family, Scorpius and I will stay around you and protect you until he has been removed. Please nod if you understand this completely" he said, looking up at Rose.

She hesitated, but eventually Rose shakily nodded. Draco saw this as progress.

"Now Rose, can you talk to me?"

"Just about" she whispered shakily, staring straight ahead, not moving.

"That's good. Can you tell me exactly why you are worried?"

"Isn't it obvious, dad?" Scorpius asked.

"Shhh, Scorp. I need Rose to tell me herself" Draco silenced his son.

"I'm worried because I thought he couldn't get me before, but he still got past us and hurt me again" Rose whispered.

"Right. And why does that make you worried?" Draco asked.

"Because if he got past us once, surely he can get past us again?" Rose whispered quietly, tears starting to dribble down her cheeks.

"Now Rose, tell me how many people are here tonight."

"Just under 3,000"

"And how many of them are carrying wands?"

"Just under 3,000"

"Exactly. Everyone here is carrying a wand, and after the fabulous night you have given them, do you think that they would all protect you if someone were to attack you?"

"I guess."

"Right. I need you to repeat this after me; I am completely safe. There are people here to protect me. I am completely safe."

"I am completely safe. There are people her to protect me. I am completely safe" she muttered in a monotone.

"Say it again."

"Dad, this is pointless" Scorpius said exasperatedly.

"No, it's not. Say it again, Rose" Draco scowled at his son, who promptly shut up.

"I am completely safe. There are people her to protect me. I am completely safe"

"Right Rose. Now I want you to look into my eyes and say that again as if you believe every word of it" Draco said. Rose locked her eyes on Draco's and repeated the phrase half-heartedly. "Rose, you need to say it with absolute conviction" Draco said slightly sternly. "Do it for Scorpius" he added, hoping that it would work.

"I am completely safe. There are people her to protect me. I am completely safe" Rose said, stronger this time. Draco smiled, it was working.

"Right, Rose. I need you to look into my wife's eyes and do the same thing" he said, indicating to Astoria, who was stood watching. She quickly came over and knelt beside Draco, who stood up and pulled his son aside.

"I know this seems a bit pointless, but it is working" Draco said quietly. Rose was repeating the phrase over and over again to Astoria, sounding more convinced every time. "Rose needs to fully convince herself that she is completely safe" he explained to his son. "The more she says it herself, the more she will believe it is true"

"So really you are just hypnotising her into not being scared"

"Bascially, yes. But it isn't the_ Imperius_-type hypnotism, it is a psychiatrist-healing-type hypnotism. Rose will find inner strength for tonight and then she will return to normal later" Draco said, seeing that his son was worried that he was basically _imperious_-ing his girlfriend.

"McGonagall will get rid of him" Draco said encouragingly, "And if not, I'm sure Weasel and Potter will find him" he grinned.

"If Mr Weasley finds McLaggen, all that'll be left will be a puddle on the floor" Scorpius smirked grimly. A sudden crash came from the other side of the hall. Draco and Scorpius, who were both quite tall, stood on their tip toes and could see Ron, Harry, George, Percy, Bill, Charlie and Arthur stood up behind their table staring at McGonagall. The women at the table were a bit more gracious and were sat staring blankly with wide eyes and open mouths at the headmistress. The crashing sound had come from Ron dropping a plate onto the floor. Draco chuckled.

"Now the all Weasleys know, there's gonna be big shit when they find that boy" he laughed.


	28. It's not quite enough

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"If Mr Weasley finds McLaggen, all that'll be left will be a puddle on the floor" Scorpius smirked grimly. A sudden crash came from the other side of the hall. Draco and Scorpius, who were both quite tall, stood on their tip toes and could see Ron, Harry, George, Percy, Bill, Charlie and Arthur stood up behind their table staring at McGonagall. The women at the table were a bit more gracious and were sat staring blankly with wide eyes and open mouths at the headmistress. The crashing sound had come from Ron dropping a plate onto the floor. Draco chuckled.

"Now the all Weasleys know, there's gonna be big shit when they find that boy" he laughed.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Ron practically screamed at McGonagall, who winced slightly as Ron stood up instantly, knocking a plate crashing to the floor. She quickly muttered reparo and the pate flew back onto the table completely fixed.

"Mr Weasley, Rose and Scorpius have just found me to tell me that Michael McLaggen's son is in attendance tonight. I would like you and your family to search for him and remove him from Hogwarts immediately" McGonagall tried to say quietly, so as not to draw attention to them, but that was not going to happen as suddenly all of the Weasley men were on their feet, wands in their hands.

"We'll handle this, Minerva" Harry said, grimacing. "Everyone split up. Minerva, could you pretend to make an announcement that will get everybody back to their table? It will be easier to search once everyone is sat down" he said.

"Of course." McGonagall walked briskly to the front of the hall. "Students, Guests, I hope that you are enjoying your evening so far" she said, performing a quick sonorous to raise her voice above the music, which gently dimmed to nothing. Everybody drifted back to their seats and soon enough, McGonagall had everyone's attention. "Shortly, we have a surprise in store for you, but they will not be arriving for another few minutes, so in this time, I would like to thank quite a few people.

"Firstly, I would like to thank Mr Morris and his fantastic orchestra for providing us with some wonderful music tonight." This was followed by a large applause as Mr Morris stood and bowed.

"Secondly, I would like to thank the free house elves of Hogwarts. All of the elves that have prepared your food for tonight work here of their own choice, and have done an excellent job tonight." Another applause.

"Thirdly, I would like to thank the staff of Hogwarts, who have put all of their time and skills into making the hall what it is for tonight. But they constructed this beauty under the instruction of our Head boy and Head girl, who organised the whole event from start to finish, so I would like to again congratulate Rose and Scorpius for giving us such an enjoyable evening." This was followed by a much larger applause as Rose and Scorpius smiled to their headmistress. Rose was still holding Scorpius' hand and he had his arm around her waist, supporting her, but they managed to put on a smile for a few seconds.

McGonagall saw out of the corner of her eye that Harry had located the McLaggens and was leading them all out of the hall into the entrance hall. He turned at the last minute and signalled to McGonagall that he would take the three upstairs to her office. She nodded and then continued "And finally, I would like to thank you all for coming tonight! So, would you please welcome your guest entertainment for the next hour, The Rejects!" she said, pointing towards the back door where the band appeared from. A huge roar went up from the crowd and the dance floor was soon swarming with people dancing.

McGonagall walked over to Rose and Scorpius and asked if they wanted to come and interrogate McLaggen. Scorpius said yes, whilst Rose said no, so Scorpius left Rose with Lily and Beth, who persuaded her to go and dance, and followed McGonagall up to her office, Ron and Hermione in tow.

"We think that McLaggen's parents bought him a ticket" Scorpius said. "But I can't remember selling them any tickets to be honest" he thought out loud.

"Well, we shall see how and why he is here in a second" McGonagall nodded as the four briskly walked to her office. As they neared the office, they heard a series of crashing sounds. They opened the door to find Harry stood out of breath in the centre of the room, Daniel McLaggen lying stunned on the floor, Michael McLaggen staring shocked at his son and Cho McLaggen crying into her hand.

"All under control, Minerva" Harry laughed, dusting off his robes. "Daniel decided to try and attack me, but that's where it got him" he motioned to the boy on the floor. Harry walked over to Mr and Mrs McLaggen and said softly to Mrs McLaggen "Cho, I'm really sorry but I had to stun him so that we could get this over with."

"I'm sorry Harry. I never expected him to attack you" she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Right, can we get on with this" Scorpius said impatiently from the side. "I'm kinda needed back downstairs."

"Of course, Mr Malfoy. Well, Mr McLaggen, can you explain to me how your son is in attendance tonight?"

"His grandmother sent us all tickets" Michael said, "and I thought that my son was entitled to come if he had a ticket." He said cockily.

"Well" McGonagall said harshly (Michael winced), "You are mistaken, Mr McLaggen, and your son is not welcome here at all. I believe that I expelled Daniel after he hospitalised Miss Weasley, so did you really think that he would be welcomed back with opened arms?" she asked.

"I told Daniel to come" Cho said, looking at McGonagall. "He was moping around the house so I thought it would perk him up a buit to be back here, even if it was for one night."

"You realise your son is a complete nutcase, right?" Scorpius said form the side. He received a glare from Mr McLaggen, but carried on. "He pushed his ex-girlfriend off of a staircase, Mr McLaggen, no sane person would do that" he said.

"He did not push her, he fell into her which caused her tragic accident" Michael grinned cockily again.

"No, he didn't. He purposely shoved Rose off of the side. You realise that she nearly died, right? You know that I sat by her bedside for over a month because she was comatose after he pushed her off of the stairs?" Scorpius yelled at Michael, whose grin faltered to a firm line. "How did you even think that your bastard son would be allowed to set a foot back in here after what he's done?" he yelled.

"Mr Malfoy, that is enough" McGonagall warned.

"No, it's not quite enough" Scorpius said. He walked over to Daniel's stunned body lying on the floor and promptly stomped his foot down on his face, smirking when he heard a satisfying crunch. "Now I've done that, the only thing left to do is get rid of him. That'll be enough" Scorpius smirked before walking out of the office and heading back down to the hall, hands in his pockets.


	29. You idiot

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Mr Malfoy, that is enough" McGonagall warned.

"No, it's not quite enough" Scorpius said. He walked over to Daniel's stunned body lying on the floor and promptly stomped his foot down on his face, smirking when he heard a satisfying crunch. "Now I've done that, the only thing left to do is get rid of him. That'll be enough" Scorpius smirked before walking out of the office and heading back down to the hall, hands in his pockets.

* * *

Rose knew something had happened the second that her boyfriend walked gloomily into the Ball.

"What happened?" she asked, walking up to Scorpius and wrapping her arms around him.

"They're going to kick him and his git father out of here" he replied sadly.

"That's good. But why do you look so miserable?"

"Because I lost my temper and now I'm in big shit with McGonagall" he said, looking down at his shoes.

"What did you do?" Rose asked, surprised. "I've never seen you properly lose your temper" she said as they sat down with their friends.

"I… um..I…" Scorpius stuttered, unsure whether or not to tell Rose what had happened.

"Spit it out, Scorp, what did you did this time?" Lorcan asked from across the table.

"I…er…how do I put this? I maybe shouted at McGonagall and McLaggen's dad before smashing McLaggen's nose to a pulp?" he said sheepishly, cringing away when he saw Rose's expression harden.

"You. Did. _WHAT_?!" she practically screamed. "I've been trying not to draw attention to us so he doesn't come after us and you only go and BREAK HIS BLOODY NOSE?!" she yelled, standing up. Scorpius cowered away from Rose, who was seething with rage. She calmed down when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Cam down, Rose. Whatever he's done, my son does not deserve to face the wrath of a Weasley" Draco chuckled. "Now, what _has_ my son done to get you this riled up?"

"I stomped on McLaggen's face and crushed his nose, dad" Scorpius said still cowering away.

Draco leant down and slapped is son behind the head. "You _idiot_, McGonagall's going to murder you for doing that" he scolded.

"McLaggen's parents witnessed it" Scorpius said quietly, "so I won't be surprised if they try to sue me."

"They won't sue you when I have plenty of medical proof that it was their son that attempted to murder his ex-girlfriend" Draco said, "but you're still a bloody idiot" he smacked Scorpius lightly around the head again. He glanced at Rose, who was steadily calming down. "Why don't you two go and take a small break from the ball? Go outside and come back when you feel ready" he suggested in a tone that said no arguments, go outside and sort out your issues. Rose and Scorpius immediately got up and left the hall.

As soon as they were out of the way from prying eyes, Rose rounded on Scorpius.

"You idiot!" she yelled, smacking his chest, forcing him up against the nearest wall. "Now your dad thinks I'm another temperamental Weasley"

"I'm sorry! I only smashed his nose because his dad kept going on about how it was a 'tragic accident' and all that other crap he tried to present in court! I got sick of seeing his dad's smirk so just smashed up his son's face. Plus I've been wanting to kill that bastard since you were put in the Muggle hospital so you can't really blame me" Scorpius tried to argue, but was cut short somewhere in the middle by Rose crushing her lips on his.

The kiss was a desperate, passionate one, and it easily led to moans and roaming hands. Rose pulled back and said with slightly shaky breath "I wondered how long you'd hold before attacking him" she smirked, kissing Scorpius again. "I wasn't too cross that you went and rearranged his face, but I'm still pissed you decided that you had to do it in front of his parents and McGonagall. If McGonagall suspends you, what the hell am I gonna do without my head boy?" she laughed, relaxing into Scorpius' embrace.

"You'll actually get work done?" he smirked. "Do you really not mind that I broke his nose?"

"No, the git had it coming to him. If any of my family knew that he'd raped me, you wouldn't be the only one trying to kill him" she laughed.

They shared a few more kisses and hugs before they decided that they had better return to the ball before people started to know they were missing.

As they neared the hall, Scorpius turned to Rose. "I'm really sorry for what I did. I never lose my temper that badly, so I'm a bit surprised myself. But before we go in, you need to comb your hair a bit as it's gone a bit wild" he smirked.

"You need to sort your hair too, Mister, as it's spiking up everywhere" Rose giggled, quickly spelling her hair back into place, "and you'll want to get rid of the lipstick on your cheek as well" she laughed. They quickly made themselves presentable again and re-entered the hall, where they were met by Ron and Harry.

"I know what you did was wrong, Malfoy, but can I just say, you did a terrific job at crushing his nose" Ron grinned, shaking his hand. "Just so you know, after you trod on his face, I sent a jelly legs charm at his git of a dad, who was going to get up and crucio you, and then left myself."

"McGonagall's not impressed with either of you" Harry laughed, indicating to Ron and Scorpius, "but she said that she won't be giving you any punishments, Scorpius, because she felt that after the efforts you put into tonight, you didn't need any more punishments when you have to live with it on your conscience. So in other words, she thought he got what he deserved too" Harry smirked.

As he and Ron walked away, he turned back quickly and said quietly so Ron wouldn't hear "By the way, Rose, you may want to cover up that hickey on your neck before your dad actually notices it. Enjoy the rest of the night" he said, winking to his niece and joining his friend.

Rose and Scorpius walked back hand in hand to their friend's table, only to be intercepted by Draco once more.

"Sorted everything out then?" he asked. "What did Potter and Weasley want to say to you?"

"They congratulated your son on destroying a guy's face and getting away with it" Rose smirked.

"You got away with it?!" Draco said, eyes bulging from shock.

"Yep" Scorpius popped the 'p', "Not even a single detention. Apparently she thinks that it is punishment enough to have it on my conscience" he laughed.

Draco chuckled. "So in other words, she thought he got what he deserved too" he said.

"That's exactly what my Uncle Harry just said" Rose laughed, joining the two Malfoys in laughter.

"I better get going – I'll see you both later. Enjoy the rest of the Ball!" Draco said cheerfully, still chuckling to himself as he walked away.

"Well, considering I got away without punishment, would you like a dance?" Scorpius asked, offering Rose his hand.


	30. I love you more

**In the Previous Chapter…**

Draco chuckled. "So in other words, she thought he got what he deserved too" he said.

"That's exactly what my Uncle Harry just said" Rose laughed, joining the two Malfoys in laughter.

"I better get going – I'll see you both later. Enjoy the rest of the Ball!" Draco said cheerfully, still chuckling to himself as he walked away.

"Well, considering I got away without punishment, would you like a dance?" Scorpius asked, offering Rose his hand.

* * *

Rose and Scorpius spent the rest of the evening dancing and enjoying themselves. At 11.30, they left the hall and checked on George Weasley and the fireworks. Seeing that they were all ready to go, the pair re-entered the Great Hall and walked to the front.

Scorpius muttered a quick sonorous before saying "Ladies, gentlemen and students of Hogwarts."

"Please could we have your attention for a few moments" Rose said, also casting a quick sonorous spell. "Unfortunately, this ball must draw to a close at some point, but first we have a few thank yous."

"First, a huge thank you to our entertainment for tonight; Mr David Morris and his Orchestra and The Rejects"

"Secondly, another big thank you to Professor McGonagall for allowing this ball to take place"

"And thirdly a massive thank you to all of you for coming."

"The money raised through ticket sales for tonight is going to be split three ways; One third is going to Madam Patil to update the Hospital Wing, another third is going to St Mungo's, and the last third of the proceeds are being sent to the muggle children's hospital, Great Ormund Street in London." Rose said. A few people sent her bizarre looks at this, and so Rose continued "We have selected these charities for the reason that they have been a great help this year to Hogwarts and thought that they deserved some recognition. A total of 7,500 Galleons was collected tonight, so each charity will receive 2,500 galleons."

"As a last treat for you tonight, we have arranged another surprise for you" Scorpius said.

"Please would you all follow me and Scorpius outside for the finale of your night, a fantastic firework display coordinated by none other than George Weasley!"

Rose then grasped her boyfriend's hand and led the throng of guests outside. As they entered the courtyard, a fantastic firework display began. Rose sat back in Scorpius' arms as they watched the bursts of colour fill the sky with fizzes, whoops, crackles and bangs.

"You did amazing" Scorpius whispered down into Rose's ear.

"I know we did" Rose beamed, swivelling around in his embrace and laying her lips on his. They stood there, revelling in the sweet and tender kiss until they heard a scream in the crowd. Rose shared a look with Scorpius before the pair set off into the crowd in the direction of the scream.

Scorpius forced his way through the mass of people surrounding a two people. As he and Rose reached the front, Rose went limp in his arms. He glanced down to see her holding onto his arm for support, her face deadly pale and her eyes fearfully wide. He gripped Rose's collapsing body against his own and followed her gaze to the couple in the middle of the crowd.

McLaggen stood with his wand pointed at a girl's throat, whilst maintaining a shield around them. No one could get to them, and everyone was afraid of what would happen if they tried. Scorpius felt his stomach suddenly drop as he recognised the girl who was struggling in McLaggen's vice-like grip.

Lily Potter stood there, trying to control her breathing and racing heartbeat, as McLaggen dug his fingernails into her arms, making them bleed. He pushed his wand harder into her neck, daring her to move even an inch.

"LILY!" Rose shrieked, trying to run forward. Scorpius grabbed her arms and pulled her to him.

"He has a shield around them, Rosie, baby. You can't get to him unless you disable to shield." He said soothingly into her ear as Rose tried to struggle out of his hold. "If you go anywhere near him, he will just kill you, Rosie. He won't let you get away" Scorpius pleaded. Rose stopped struggling and glanced around at Scorpius.

"He'll hurt Lily, Scorp! I can't let that happen to her!" Rose cried, pummelling Scorpius' chest to try and get him to let her go.

"I can't let that happen to you either, Rosie" he said, hugging her tight as she cried.

"Then can you do something about it?" she said, her voice muffled against Scorpius' chest.

"If you promise that you won't try anything stupid" he laughed. "I'll get Lily out, I promise" he vowed. He cautiously released his grip on Rose's waist, and when he was certain she wasn't going to run at McLaggen, he walked towards Harry and Ron, who were conversing with McGonagall at the back of the crowd. Harry was significantly pale and was panicking a bit.

"Minerva, I need to get my Lils away from him" Harry urged, paling more as he glanced at Lily, still held at wand point.

"Harry, my dear, I know, but I haven't been able to identify the shield charms he is using" McGonagall frowned.

"Professor, I think he is using a cross between the classic shield and a protection charm" Scorpius interrupted. "It's difficult magic, but I'd know it anywhere. Dad had to use it a lot when I was little" he explained.

"That actually sounds plausible, Scorpius" she beamed. "Do you know how to reverse it?"

"Dad does" Scorpius smiled, before casting his patronus and sending it over to his father. Draco was immediately at his son's side.

"I can reverse it" he said, "but you will only have a few seconds to act on it. You should have 4 wizards casting different spells at the same time. One to cast an anti-apparition spell, one to fire a stunning spell and another to bind him" Draco explained. "The fourth person will be me, and I'll counter the curse" he smiled.

"I'll take the binding spell" Scorpius grinned. "Been wanting to bind him up for months"

"I'll take the stunning spell" Ron chirped up, "as I'd rather not do the anti-apparition one – that sounds more Harry's level of magic" he muttered.

"Great. Position yourselves at the compass points around the circle" Draco ordered. "At my signal, send your spells." The four men briskly walked to their places and subtly pointed their wands at McLaggen.

A ferret patronus suddenly leapt in front of Scorpius. "Distract McLaggen" his father's voice quietly whispered. "Give me a minute to send all the counter spells at him. On the last one, I'll give my signal." Scorpius found his dad in the crowd and nodded, before stepping forward.

McLaggen saw the movement and turned to face Scorpius. Behind him, Draco started casting.

"Stay back, Malfoy" McLaggen spat.

"What are you doing, McLaggen? Why exactly are you holding Lils here hostage?" Scorpius asked calmly with authority. He took another step forward.

"Stay back, death eater scum!" McLaggne growled. Draco momentarily stopped casting to raise his eyebrows and narrow his eyes. No one dared call his son that.

"Why are you holding Lils hostage?" Scorpius pushed again.

"Because I need her" he growled.

"Why?"

"Why do you think, you stupid bit of filth!?" McLaggen screamed.

"I don't know, McLaggen, that's why I'm asking you" Scorpius' smirk crept onto his face.

"Isn't it obvious?" McLaggen yelled, thrusting out his hand and indicating to where Rose was stood, "It'll hurt her the most" he grinned sadistically.

"You want to get to Rose?" Scorpius glowered.

"Yes, dammit! No one can have have, she is MINE!" he bellowed, flicking his wand at Scorpius, who easily blocked it.

"Don't you dare curse me, McLaggen. Don't you think you've hurt her enough already?"

"No! She defied me!"

"She never did, you made that up"

"SHE CHEATED ON ME WITH YOU!"

"I WASN'T GOING OUT WITH HER UNTIL YOU BEAT HER TO A PULP!"

"SHE BLOODY SLEPT WITH YOU WHEN SHE WAS GOING OUT WITH ME!"

"Don't. You. DARE!" Rose screamed, running to Scorpius. "The only person I've slept with was you, you moron! And even then, I didn't chose it, because you repeatedly RAPED ME ALL SUMMER!" she shrieked, tears cascading down her cheeks.

There was a collective gasp from the audience. Everyone turned to stare at Rose and McLaggen.

"YOU RAPED MY DAUGHTER?" Ron yelled, forgetting his role and charging at McLaggen, just as Draco finished reversing the shields. Ron barrelled straight into McLaggen, the pair clattering to the ground. Scorpius stunned McLaggen and Ron stood up, glaring down at the once again stunned boy.

"Don't. You. Ever. Come. Near. My. Family. Again." He growled, emphasising each word by jabbing McLaggen's face with his wand. A boil appeared with each jab. Rose walked toLily, who was now on the floor sobbing.

"Shhh Lils, it's alright" Rose soothed, crying herself. Scorpius walked over and wrapped both girls in his arms, holding the two girls as they cried. Harry apparated McLaggen to Azkaban, before apparating to the spot in front of the three teens on the ground.

"He's locked up. He won't even get a hearing, we have enough witness statements to lock him up for life" Harry said, enveloping the girls in a hug. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Uncle Harry, we'll be fine" Rose smiled, wiping away a tear before taking Scorpius' hand and standing up. "Now, I believe we have a firework display to begin!" she said, plastering a smile on her face. She sent a red spark into the air, and the marvellous fireworks came to life.

Scorpius studied his girlfriend, and knew exactly what she needed; privacy. So he gently pulled her away from the crowd and back inside. Rose followed, slightly puzzled, but smiled as they entered their common room. "Thank you" she whispered, flinging her arms around Scorpius' neck. He hugged her back, savouring the moment.

"You didn't need that to happen tonight" he explained, "so I figured bringing us back here would be acceptable"

Rose flopped onto the sofa and started to take off her jewellery. "I know. But he's gone, so I can get over everything at last" she sighed as she took off her heels, letting her feet relax. Scorpius sat down beside her, and Rose laid her head on his lap, staring up into his eyes. "I really love you, you know that, right, Scorp?" she smiled.

"I love you more" he smirked. Rose grabbed his tie and yanked his head down so their noses were almost touching.

"I can prove I love you more" she grinned, before letting Scorpius' tie go and sitting up. He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really?"

"I'll be back in a minute to show you" she grinned, "But when I get back, I want that robe, tie and shirt gone, Mister Malfoy" she winked before disappearing up the stairs.


	31. No Comment

**A/N: Hello, hello, hello! I'm back! I'm sorry i haven;t updated in forever, but coursework has weighed me down, and the nightmare isn;t even over for another week! Hopefully I can update more after that, but it'll all depend on the reviews - Keep them up for more chapters! If we get this story to 100, I will definately update more! Keep them up! - Rxx**

* * *

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"I really love you, you know that, right, Scorp?" she smiled.

"I love you more" he smirked. Rose grabbed his tie and yanked his head down so their noses were almost touching.

"I can prove I love you more" she grinned, before letting Scorpius' tie go and sitting up. He raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really?"

"I'll be back in a minute to show you" she grinned, "But when I get back, I want that robe, tie and shirt gone, Mister Malfoy" she winked before disappearing up the stairs.

* * *

Rose re-entered the common room wearing her dressing gown as Scorpius was unbuttoning his shirt. His tie and robe were in a pile on the floor. "Buttons tricky, are they?" she smirked as her boyfriend struggled to undo his top button.

"Only the top one, it always gets stuck" Scorpius grinned as Rose gently undid the button. She slowly undid every other button, dragging her cold fingers down his chest, pausing just above his trouser waist band.

"I think I'll undo this one" Rose whispered with a seductive grin as she undid the button to Scorpius' trousers, "considering you always find the top ones….tricky" she whispered, smirking as Scorpius groaned and shivered, raising his eyebrows.

"R-R-R-Roseeee" he muttered, stuttering, "_what_ are you doing?" he said, slightly arching his back as Rose was fiddling with his trousers.

"Getting rid of these" she said, her eyes glinting. Scorpius' trousers promptly fell to his feet, but Rose kept her hands where they were. "We've had such a good night, Scorp. I want to make it even better" she whispered seductively, leaning closer to her boyfriend, pressing her body up against his mostly naked one.

Another shiver rippled down Scorpius' back. "You want to try again?" he whispered, full of shock.

"Does this answer your question?" she said, face inches from his own, as she gently ground her hips forwards into his. She suddenly smirked, before wrapping her hand around the growing bulge pressing against her stomach and adding "And I don't think you're about to disagree either." Her smirk widened as Scorpius' eyes grew as she started to tantalisingly slowly stroke the erection in his pants.

"Rose, s-stop before this goes too far" he said, ending on a gasp as Rose slid her cool hand into his boxers.

"What if I want to let it go too far?" she asked, pulling Scorpius' face down to her level and locking her lips on his.

Locked together in a passionate kiss, Rose and Scorpius tumbled onto the sofa. As their kiss deepened, Scorpius took off Rose's dressing gown and cast it aside, revealing that his girlfriend was only wearing her underwear.

"You were planning this all along" he grinned against Rose's lips.

"No comment" his girlfriend smirked as she removed Scorpius' boxers. Scorpius let out a small groan as Rose began stroking his fully erect cock, and gave in to his desires and wrapped his arms behind his girlfriend's back, unclasping the lacy bra, before flipping himself and Rose over, so that he was lying on top of her.

"You're sure?" he asked quietly, studying Rose's surprised face.

The surprise quickly faded from her face, and was replaced by a look of determination and desire. As Rose nodded, she ran her hands down the sides of Scorpius' body before reaching down and removing her pants, leaving them laying stark naked on their sofa.

"Scorp" she whispered seductively, leaning up so that her lips were right beside his ear, "I really want this" she smiled, jerking her hips into his, causing his to groan in pleasure. And that was all it took.

Scorpius lowered his body onto hers gently, kissing her passionately whilst he slowly penetrated Rose. He paused when he heard her gasp, but continued to press into her when he looked into her eyes and saw raw desire staring back at him.

"Scorp" Rose panted, her chest heaving as he continued to press feather-light kisses all over her body, "Don't stop"

Scorpius continued to gently thrust into her tiny body, each movement followed by a new gasp.

Rose reached her climax, and grabbed Scorpius' hips, pulling him into her "Scorp, I need you" she gasped, moaning in pleasure. Scorpius pumped faster and harder, and soon joined Rose as he reached his own climax, crying out her name.

The pair collapsed onto the sofa, getting their breath back slowly.

Scorpius puffed "That was-"

"Amazing" Rose finished gently kissing her boyfriend's forehead.

"You're okay?" he asked, hesitantly.

"I'm fine" Rose nodded, smiling. She raised her lips to his ear and whispered "You were soooooo much better than him anyway" before nibbling on his earlobe.

"Rose" Scorpius smirked, his voice husky, "As much as I loved that, I think that may be enough for one night" he grinned, lifting himself off of the sofa and offering his hand to Rose. "Shall we go to sleep, my lady?" he smirked as Rose rose from the sofa and took his hand.

"I'd like nothing more" she grinned, "except maybe some chocolate, but that can wait til morning" she smirked.

* * *

Scorpius woke up with Rose asleep in his arms, feeling the most relaxed in months. Then it hit him. He'd slept with Rose.

"Rose, get up" he croaked.

"Hmmmmmmmm" she groaned, stretching her arms and snuggling back into Scorpius' chest.

"Rose, it's Christmas." Scorpius was suddenly shoved out of bed and onto the floor. He looked up dazed as Rose lept out of her skin.

"SHIT WHAT TIME IS IT?" she yelled, before seeing her boyfriend on the floor, propping himself up on his elbows, his eyebrows raised.

"It's 'Let's shove my boyfriend on the floor'-o-clock" he smirked, pulling himself back up onto the bed while Rose giggled into the back of her hand.

"Oops, sorry Scorp" she smiled, laying a kiss on his lips. "Guess I forgot that you'd fall off…"

"Anyway, it's about 9" Scorpius said, glancing at the clock by his bed.

"We have to be at breakfast. Now." Rose said, dragging Scorp into the bathroom and throwing his toothbrush at him. "Christmas Breakfast is at 9am and then we go open presents in Gryffindor" she explained, tugging a brush through her hair with one hand while she brushed her teeth with the other.

"Organised" Scorpius muttered, rinsing out his mouth and wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's waist. "You need to get rid of that hickey then, if your family's going to be there"

"I'm not going to, let them see that I'm yours" she smirked.

"If your dad kills me-"

"-Then he'll be shortly joining you in hell" Rose interrupted.

"Oh, I'm going to hell, am I?" Scorpius said with a grin.

"Yup, for definite" Rose grinned back, pulling her hair into a ponytail and retreating back into her room. She threw on basic comfy clothing and grabbed a pair of shoes from her wardrobe. "Get dressed, Scorp!" she called through their bathroom, "You're coming too!"

"Do I have to?!" he whinged, coming into her room with trackies and a vest top on, pulling up the zip on his hoodie.

"Yes. Now come on, Mister, we have a Weasley Christmas to get to" Rose grinned before pulling Scorpius out of the door towards the Great Hall.


	32. Completely Overwhelmed

**In the Previous Chapter…**

"Get dressed, Scorp!" she called through their bathroom, "You're coming too!"

"Do I have to?!" he whinged, coming into her room with trackies and a vest top on, pulling up the zip on his hoodie.

"Yes. Now come on, Mister, we have a Weasley Christmas to get to" Rose grinned before pulling Scorpius out of the door towards the Great Hall.

* * *

At home, Scorpius' Christmases were usually quite quiet and uneventful. He would open presents with his parents before having Christmas lunch with his parents, both sets of grandparents and his Aunt Daphne, Uncle Blaize and their son Gregg (named after their old school friend who died in the war), who was in his 5th year at Hogwarts. After lunch, Leo, Lorcan and Lysander and two of Gregg's friends and their parents would floo over to the Manor and the adults would spend the afternoon getting drunk whilst Scorpius and the other boys would fly over to the Quidditch pitch at the end of the Malfoy estate and have a Quidditch marathon.

He was completely overwhelmed by the Weasley Christmas.

Scorpius expected to go down to the Great Hall, have a bit of breakfast and then be dragged up to Gryffindor tower to open presents. How wrong he was.

The Weasley and Potter children at Hogwarts were waiting by the door to the Great Hall. They turned to face the couple as Rose dragged her bewildered boyfriend down the corridor.

"You're late, Rosie" Al grinned. "Not like you" he grinned wickedly.

"We were just a bit late waking up. We had quite a late night" Rose said, blushing.

Al could see right through her. "Well, I think we'll have to talk about your late night later, Rosie" he smirked, "but right now, we're all late and I'm gonna leave it up to you to tell the parentals why we're late."

"Parents?" Rose raised her eyebrow. Apparently Scorpius wasn't the only one surprised.

"Dad owled McGonagall last night after everyone went home. He wants us to spend today at The Burrow like we normally would. He thinks we need some time away from the castle…" Hugo butted in, drifting at the end as his eyes clashed with his sister's. They both knew that Ron wanted to talk to Rose about the events of the previous night.

"Fine" she sighed, "how long are we staying there for?"

"McGonagall said we were going until the end of the holidays, so you may want to go grab some spare clothes and stuff. Oh, and Dad apparently said to bring Scorp as well."

Scorpius stared blankly at Hugo. Ron Weasley had invited him, a Malfoy, to spend Christmas with his family.

"We'll just run back and grab some stuff then" Rose said, taking Scorpius' hand in her own, pulling him out of his state of shock. "Meet back here in 10. I'm guessing presents are over there already" she asked.

"Yeah, they are. Be quick, Rosie, we're already late because of your late night escapades" Al smirked as Rose and Scorpius turned to leave.

"Shush Albus, I'll get you later, and you know it" Rose grinned before turning to run down the corridor, Scorpius running alongside her.

"We're going to the Burrow?" Scorpius asked as he ran beside Rose.

"Apparently" she replied, slightly breathless as they rounded the corner and reached their common room. She waved her wand and a selection of each of their clothes, toiletries and other essentials flew to her feet, folding themselves into a suitcase which she had also summoned. She cast several more silent spells on the case as Scorpius watched in awe at his girlfriend. The case shrunk to the size of a muggle mobile phone (one of which Rose owned and had shown him) and she slipped it into her pocket. "Let's go then" she grinned.

"You should be a charms professor, you know" Scorpius praised as they walked back to the Great Hall hand in hand. "That little display was brilliant."

"You think so? I've always wanted to work with charms. It's my-"

"-favourite subject. You said so at the beginning of the year" Scorpius grinned.

"You remember too much" Rose smirked as they approached her family at the door again. "Are we flooing from McGonagall's office?" she asked Al.

"Yup. We better get moving really, otherwise your dad will throw a hissy fit at you being late" Al nodded, leading the group up some stairs and into the Headmistress' office.

"Good morning, everyone. It's nice to see you recovered after last night" McGonagall said, smiling at the group as they entered. "Mr Malfoy, it's nice to see you up here again. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of last night's events."

Scorpius bowed his head, a smirk creeping onto his face. The Weasleys glanced at Rose inquisitively.

"Oh, Scorp was the one who broke McLaggen's nose" she grinned.

"No time for telling tales, hun, we're meant to be at your family Christmas celebrations" Scorpius said, looking down to smirk at his girlfriend.

"That's true. Come on then" Rose said, grabbing Scorpius's hand and pulling into the fireplace with her. "To The Burrow!" The pair vanished in a puff of green, and landed in a heap on the rug in the Burrow.

"Scorpius, please get off my daughter" the couple heard Ron say politely, but yet in a restrained voice. They untangled themselves to find Ron looking anywhere but them, a Weasley blush creeping onto his face.

"Don't worry about him, he just wasn't quite ready to see his little girl being straddled by her boyfriend" Hermione grinned, looking with amusement at her husband.

"Didn't intend to land like that, Mr Weasley, sir" Scorpius said, holding back a laugh. "We just seemed to barrel through the grate and I landed on top of Rosie" he smirked.

The rest of the Weasley and Potter children slowly arrived at the Burrow in pairs, each landing in heaps on the floor.

"Nana, I think your floo needs tweaking. No one is arriving upright" Al shook his head as Lily climbed off of him gently.

"Sorry, dear, it hasn't been working properly since your granddad tried to 'fix it'" she frowned at Arthur, who was currently sat in an armchair. "Oh well, everyone's here now, so you lot should head through to the kitchen. I've made breakfast" she smiled, herding her grandchildren and Scorpius into her kitchen.

* * *

After stuffing themselves with bacon, sausages, eggs and basically everything from a traditional English breakfast, Scorpius and Rose sat down with the rest of her family to open presents. Scorpius sat in an armchair, while Rose perched on his lap. The entire Weasley family sat down in the enlarged living room and exchanged gifts. Scorpius was surprised to see that he was handed a fair amount of gifts too.

From the Weasleys, Scorpius received many gifts including a wizard chess set from Al ("It's enchanted to tell you what your opponent if going to do next" Al smirked. "Just don't tell Uncle Ron when you match him later"), a collection of WWW products from Hugo and a Weasley jumper from Molly and Arthur. There was only one person's present he had not yet unwrapped by lunchtime, and it was coming from the red-haired girl sat on his lap.

"I accidentally left part of your present at Hogwarts" Rose explained to him after their Christmas dinner, "but the other part I can give to you a bit later when we have some privacy" she said, winking to her boyfriend before turning back to her conversation with Lily.

Scorpius gently lifted Rose off of his lap, quickly explaining "I just need to talk to your cousin" and approached Al, who was sat with Hugo playing exploding snap. "Al, you said I would have to play Rose's dad later at chess…you weren't serious, were you?"

"Oh, hi Scorp. Yeah I was serious actually. But don't worry, you might not have to face him – we draw names out of a hat and everyone has to play someone. The winners go back into the hat and you keep playing until there are two people left. They play and the winner is declared the Christmas Chess Champion. You might be lucky and get to play someone like Aunt Audrey, who can't play chess for their life, or you could be very unlucky and have to play Uncle Ron. Oh look, they're pulling the pairs now" he said, pointing to Arthur, who was stood in the middle of the living room pointing his wand at a hat.

"Right, Weasleys, Potters and Scorpius!" Arthur announced, grinning at Scorpius, "It's time to find out who will be playing who for the Chess Tournament this year. When I tap my wand, a piece of paper will fly towards you. This will have your opponent's name written on it. Find your opponent, and may the chess begin!" he smiled, flicking his wand at the hat. A scrap of paper flew into the hands of each person in the room.

Al groaned as he saw his partner. "Hugh, can we just say you win?" he frowned. Hugo jumped up eagerly.

"No chance, I want to wipe the floor with you. You're going down, Potter!" he cried delightfully, resetting their chess game.

"Scorp!" someone cried from across the room. Scorpius turned to face Rose, who was making his way towards her. "Who did you get?"

Scorpius glanced at the paper in his hand for the first time. "Your Uncle Harry" he said, shocked. He was going to play _Harry Potter_ at chess.

"Oh, you'll be fine. Uncle Harry isn't the best" his girlfriend grinned, "but I never said that" she winked. "I have James, so I'm just gonna have to keep my wits about me. Have fun playing Uncle Harry!" she smiled, before turning to find her red-headed uncle.

"Wait!" Scorpius said softly, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. "Don't I get a good luck kiss" he grinned.

"I suppose" Rose smirked, standing up on her tiptoes and giving him a small peck on the lips. "But that's all you're getting. I don't want you to have too much luck for the next round, I might have to play you" she grinned, before kissing him again and sitting down next to her Uncle George.

Scorpius looked around and spotted Harry setting up the chess set with his wand. "Hello Scorpius" he smiled, looking up from the board. "How good are you at chess?"

"Well, I can play chess if that's what you mean" Scorpius shrugged.

"No, I mean, I'm absolutely rubbish and will you be able to beat me so I don't have to face Ron next round? He rubs it in for weeks when he beats me" Harry explained with a grin.

"Well, we'll have to see, won't we?" Scorpius grinned.

* * *

20 minutes later, the first round was over. Harry shook Scorpius' hand, saying "Well played. Good luck if you have to face Ron."

Several rounds later, there were only 4 people left in the competition. These four people were Hugo, Ron, Scorpius and Rose.

As the papers flew out of the hat for the final time, Scorpius groaned.


	33. Knight to E4

**In the previous chapter…**

20 minutes later, the first round was over. Harry shook Scorpius' hand, saying "Well played. Good luck if you have to face Ron."

Several rounds later, there were only 4 people left in the competition. These four people were Hugo, Ron, Scorpius and Rose.

As the papers flew out of the hat for the final time, Scorpius groaned.

_Rose_. He was going to play his girlfriend.

* * *

"It could be worse, mate, you could be playing Hugo or Uncle Ron" Al said over his shoulder.

"If I beat Rosie, I'll be playing one of them, so don't say that" Scorpius smiled before sitting down opposite Rose.

"You're going down, Malfoy" she smirked.

"Using surnames are we, Weasley?" he grinned, winking.

"Stop flirting and play, you're making me sick" Hugo yelled at them from his seat opposite Ron.

Scorpius and Rose then drove into a fast-paced game, and soon reached a point where they were going in circles. In the time their game was taking, Hugo suffered defeat from Ron, and soon enough, everyone's eyes were on Rose and Scorpius' game. It was soon realised that it was going to be a very close game, and while they were playing, the adults of the family started betting money on their favourite to win. Ron, Percy, Bill and George had their money on Rose, while Harry and Charlie had their money on Scorpius. Eventually, Scorpius saw one fatal flaw that Rose had missed; he could move into checkmate.

"Knight to E4" Scorpius smirked as the realisation dawned on Rose's face. He missed the realisation on Ron and Harry's faces, but didn't miss the loss in Ron's eyes when he realised his daughter was beaten.

"Shit, I missed that" Rose muttered. She wasn't the only one complaining. Grumbles were heard from George, Bill, Percy and Ron as they regretfully handed over several galleons each to Harry and Charlie, who were both sporting ear-to-ear grins.

"Thanks to Scorp, I'm 6 galleons richer!" Charlie grinned.

Scorpius stood from the table and walked around it to wrap his arms around his girlfriend, who was staring at his knight, as if she wanted to set the piece on fire with her eyes. "You were tough to beat, hun" he grinned as she leant back into his embrace.

"Can't believe I missed that" she scowled. Scorpius leant down and claimed her lips with his own, hoping that Ron was focused enough on his firewhiskey not to notice. He smiled as he felt Rose smiled against his lips.

"I knew you wouldn't stay mad at me for long" he smirked.

"Well, you won't beat dad, he's a literal chess genius" she grinned back, slipping her hand into his. Scorpius sat down at the chess table in the middle. Rose pulled up a seat next to him and kept her hand linked in his. Ron quickly sat down, glanced at Rose, and pointed his wand at her face. "_Silencio_. Can't have her giving you help, can we?" he grinned.

Rose shrugged before saying out loud "Dad, I can do wordless magic, you know. I can easily counter anything you do"

"Fine, but don't help him, I want to beat him"

"I wouldn't want help, sir. I either lose fair and square, or I can claim all the credit for wiping the floor with you" Scorpius smirked.

"Game on, Malfoy" Ron smirked back, and the game begun. A little while later, both Ron and Scorpius were only playing with a handful of counters, and were struggling to progress any further. Eventually, the game reached a stalemate, so it was announced a draw.

"Jammy git" Ron muttered under his breath.

"It would've been Ron's 25th Christmas Championship Win this year" Harry explained to Scorpius as Ron starting filling up a glass of Firewhiskey.

"I think that's the first time we've had a stalemate on Christmas day" Rose commented as the game was packed away. "And it's the first time anyone has officially not lost to dad" she grinned. "Well Done"

"Thanks, Rosie. So, what happens now?" Scorpius beamed, wondering what the Weasley christms had in store next.

"What happens now is that everyone is left to do what they want. I've already planned what we're doing" Rose smirked, tapping her nose with her finger. "I just need to go and tell mum where we're going and then we can go." She quickly found her mum and started whispering in her ear.

"Just be careful, okay" Hermione sighed as she heard Rose's plans. Rose swiftly grabbed Scorpius hand, grinned and apparated them away.

* * *

They landed in a forest. More accurately, they landed halfway up a steep hill in a forest. Scorpius stumbled from the unexpected slope, and pulled Rose down with him onto the floor. They rolled down the hill uncontrollably in a ball of tangled limbs and they finally landed in a bit of a heap at the bottom, with Rose landing on top of Scorpius, who was face down on the ground.

"owwwww" he moaned, the sound muffled from where his face was buried in the grass.

"Sorry. I'm always a bit off with side-along. We were meant to land at the top of the hill, not halfway up." Rose apologised as she gently climbed off of her boyfriend and helped him sit up.

Scorpius opened his mouth to speak, but gasped in pain as he felt a trickle of blood running down his face, over his lips and dripping down his chin.

"Fuck, I think I re-broke your nose" Rose groaned, reaching for a pack of tissues in her bag. She gently started mopping up Scorpius' face, shying away when he winced at the pain. While she cleaned his face with one hand while fishing around in her bag again with her other hand. She found what she was looking for and pulled out a vial of potion. "Drink, then be prepared for a bit of pain" she warned as she passed the vial to Scorpius. He tipped the potion down his throat, then braced himself. He wasn't prepared for Rose to take hold of his once again shattered nose and click it back into place.

"FUCKING HELL, ROSE" he yelled as the pain hit him. "You said pain, not agony!" He saw the shock on Rose's face, and then felt his face fall as she turned away from him and once again started looking into her bag. "I'm sorry" he sighed, putting one hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around, "That just hurt quite a lot." He held a tissue carefully to his nose, which was still bleeding.

"What did the potion taste like?" Rose whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Scorpius was suddenly worried.

"Mint. Why?"

"Ah shit" Rose complained, crying more as she dropped her head into her hands. "I gave you the wrong one. It's this bloody bag; it has too much stuff in it. And now I've made your nose worse" she moaned as Scorpius hugged her, ignoring his bleeding nose and letting the blood trickle slowly down his face as he wrapped his arms comfortingly around her.

"Which one did you give me and which one was I meant to have?" he asked softly, wiping her tears away.

"Meant to give you a pain-numbing one, gave you a breath freshener" she whispered, groaning slightly. "So instead of repositioning your nose and you not feeling most of it, you felt every single bit of pain as I moved it" she said mournfully. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I really didn't. I never would have done it if I didn't think you couldn't feel most of it."

"It's alright, hun. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. But I'll take that pain killer now, if you don't mind" he grimaced as he spoke as the movement moved his nose as well, sending a wave of pain over his face.

Rose handed over an identical vial to the first one. The only difference was that this one had a blue cork in the top, compared to the normal brown in the other. "I was too concerned to get it into you before your nose set in the wrong position to notice the coloured top" she explained.

A wave of heat hit Scorpius, quickly followed by absolutely no feeling in his face.

"Ah caahnt feewl ahnafig" he muttered, his voice muffled.

"If you can't feel anything, it's a good sign" Rose said, trying to hide her grin at Scorpius' attempts to speak clearly.

"Ohn't augh. S'not fuhneh" he groaned.

"Actually, it's very funny" Rose laughed, unable to hold in her laughter anymore.

"ets ust et oo op ov iss body ill" he groaned, taking Rose's hand.

"I take it that you meant to say 'Let's just get to the top of the hill'" she grinned, following Scorpius up the hill. "Don't trip" she smirked. Scorpius just groaned in return, not bothering to attempt to speak. As they neared the top of the hill, Rose stared to see a beam of orange, and smiled to herself. As they reached the top of the hill, Scorpius gasped.

"ose…" he said, completely bewildered.

The couple were stood looking over the sea, where a beautiful orange and pink sun was setting in the distance. Rose led him down a path onto the beach. The sunset looked somewhat more beautiful from down there, the colours bouncing off the water. You could make out every colour; there was oranges, yellows, pinks, tints of blue and red and even streaks of gold splayed across the horizon.

"it's 'eautiful" Scorpius said, his diction becoming a bit clearer. He brought Rose in for a tight hug, looking down at her with loving eyes. He gently leant down and slowly kissed her, trying very hard not to brush his nose against her face and move it around again. Although the pain was numbed for now, he didn't want to risk moving the fragile bones around anymore.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! I'm feeling very proud of myself, an update! In the middle of my exams! This may be the only update during exam time, I'm afraid, as i still have 16 lovely exams to pass. I have to admit, this chapter has been laying forgotten about for quite a while, but anyway, you have it now! I wasn't sure about this chapter, so feedback would be lovely. Remember that reviews literally make my day, which isn't hard with all of this boring revision going on...thanks for waiting, and i'll hopefully update again soon! -Rxx**


	34. Completey ruined your face again

**In the previous chapter…**

"ose…" he said, completely bewildered.

The couple were stood looking over the sea, where a beautiful orange and pink sun was setting in the distance. Rose led him down a path onto the beach. The sunset looked somewhat more beautiful from down there, the colours bouncing off the water. You could make out every colour; there were oranges, yellows, pinks, tints of blue and red and even streaks of gold splayed across the horizon.

"it's 'eautiful" Scorpius said, his diction becoming a bit clearer. He brought Rose in for a tight hug, looking down at her with loving eyes. He gently leant down and slowly kissed her, trying very hard not to brush his nose against her face and move it around again. Although the pain was numbed for now, he didn't want to risk moving the fragile bones around anymore.

* * *

"Happy Christmas, Scorp" Rose whispered in between kisses. "I thought you'd like to get away from my crazy family for a bit, so I thought a walk along the beach would be nice."

"It's 'onderful" he said, taking her hand. They strolled at a leisurely pace along the beach, feeling like they were the only ones in the world. Rose lead Scorpius further down the beach, past rows and rows of colourful beach huts. Scorpius listened intently as Rose told him about where they were.

"Well, I come here every few years with my family. We're somewhere on the Isle of Wight, and that's as much as I know really about where we are" she explained as they walked along the shore, the waves gently lapping over their bare feet. "We have a summer house near here where we stay for a few days. There are only a few properties around here, so we know nearly everyone here. It's mostly old wizarding couples who want to enjoy the last few years of their life, you know? But there's only one other family who have kids here, but they haven't talked to us since we set their fence on fire by accident" Rose laughed, the sound being carried away by the sea.

"Hugo or you?" Scorpius teased, immediately guessing it would be Hugo.

"Mum, surprisingly" Rose giggled. "Muggle-style barbeque got slightly out of hand." The couple walked a little further along the sand before they climbed a staircase built into the cliff face. Scorpius took in his surroundings as Rose half dragged him along a small path on the cliff top. Suddenly, Rose stopped, and considering Scorpius wasn't exactly looking where he was going, the pair stumbled slightly. Scorpius quickly caught Rose before she clattered to the ground. It was then that he looked up.

"This" he asked, his face dropping in surprise, "is yours?"

"Yeah" Rose said, glancing at him, "what do you think?"

"I swear I want to live here when we finish school, its perfect!" he half whispered, taking a step closer to the small detached house.

"My parents have already said I can live here after graduation, so I don't see why my boyfriend wouldn't be able to live here too" Rose grinned when she saw his jaw drop even further.

"Seriously? They're practically giving you a house!"

"I know, it's great. We never really use it anyway and Mum thinks it'll be a good way for me to learn to be independent" Rose smiled. "Anyway, you coming inside or what?"

Scorpius followed Rose slowly up the path to the house, taking in everything he could see.

The small house was a double-story cottage, painted white with the beams painted black, just like you would expect to see in a muggle fairytale. The front garden was small, but perfectly kept and had empty flowerbeds. When Scorpius asked about these, Rose explained that in the summer the beds filled with strawberry plants. Running down the middle of the garden was a crazy-paved path up to the solid wooden door.

At the end of the path, Rose tapped the doorknob, and Scorpius heard the lock click open. When inside, Rose led him into the farmhouse-style kitchen, where she pointed at one of the chairs around a small circular table and told him to sit down. Scorpius watched as Rose stretched to reach the first aid kit in one of the top cupboards, then he had to hide his smirk as she gave up and just summoned it.

"Just because you're tall doesn't mean we all are" she smirked as she came back. _Damn_, Scorpius thought, _she saw_. Rose set the first aid kit on the table then moved a chair so that she was sat directly in front of Scorpius. "How bad does your nose hurt at the moment?"

"Dull ache. It's not too bad"

"Right, well, do you mind if I clear it up a bit more? Mungo's Emergency Ward is always bursting around Christmas, so I think the best thing to do for now is just to make it look like I haven't completely ruined your face again" she grinned. Scorpius laughed.

"Did you just bring me here so you can clean my face?"

"Well, it is covered in blood still. Sit still" she said as she gently used an antiseptic wipe to clear away the dried blood. Scorpius winced when she got too close to his broken nose, but didn't complain any further.

When she was finished, she summoned another pain killer potion from her bag and gave it to him. "If it's a dull ache, that usually means it's running out" she explained. "Now, I didn't just bring you here to clean you up. After the chess tournament in the morning, everyone is left to do whatever they want, as long as they are back in time for dinner. So I thought I'd give you a tiny break from my family and their questions and bring you out here for an hour or two."

"Thanks" Scorpius said, pulling Rose onto his lap in a hug. "Plus, it's nice to be with you alone for a bit" he smiled. "Rose, how long do we have until dinner?" he suddenly said, as if he's thought of something amazing.

"Ummmm 3 hours?"

"Great, that's plenty of time. Do you fancy coming to the Manor and visiting my parents? I think they'd like to see us both for a bit"

"That's a great idea" Rose beamed. "I was just about to ask you what you wanted to do. Do you want to fire-call ahead just to check they're home?"

"Good idea. Even though I know they'll be home, I'll just check they haven't got any visitors" he said. "Where's your fireplace?"

"Just in the other room. Out that door, down the corridor and first right" Rose grinned.

Scorpius came back into the kitchen 5 minutes later with a smile on his face. "Dad says we can come round, so shall we go?" he offered her his arm.

"We're apparating?"

"It's fast, plus my floo is always a bit off, and no offense, but I don't want to land on you or you land on me and make this thing bleed again" he indicated to his nose.

"Right" Rose held his hand, "let's go!"

* * *

**A/N: I feel so bad that this hasn't been updated for at least 4 weeks, but every time i tried to write this chapter, it didn;t seem right...but now, here is the result i'm happy with! Please keep following, reading and reviewing and virtual cookies to everyone who has reviewed so far! - Rxx**


End file.
